Alien Ichigo
by moviefan-92
Summary: Post-anime. Two years after Deep Blue's defeat. Kish returns to earth and kidnaps Ichigo. He turns her into an alien and brings her back to his planet, declaring that she's going to be his mate. And Ichigo isn't happy about any of this. K/I. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: Kish's Birthday Present

**(A/N: It's not too often that I write more than one story at once, put the plot bunnies have been multiplying like crazy, forcing me to begin this story before I finished the last one. As you should know, this is a _Tokyo Mew Mew_ story that takes place after the anime with a rather interesting twist to it. Please keep in mind that since this isn't the only story I'm working on, it may take a little longer for me to update than usual.)  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**"ALIEN ICHIGO"**

**Chapter 1: Kish's Birthday Present**

Kish tapped his finger impatiently on the table as he looked out the window at the stars. Somewhere out there, on a planet called Earth, his little kitten was going about her normal life. Then again, what was normal for a Mew Mew?

When he spoke of Mew Mews, he was referring to the earthlings that had been, for lack of a better word, spliced with animal DNA, giving them strange supernatural powers. The earthling he was thinking about, Ichigo Momomiya, had been spliced with a cat, hence the reason for him caller her 'kitten'.

But it had been gene splicing that had given him the idea. And with his race's superior technology, and with a genius like his friend Pie to help, he had a plan that would allow him to finally claim Ichigo as his.

Turning to the older alien, he asked, "Hey, Pie, is it ready yet?"

The normally emotionless alien glared at him. "Unless you want to finish it yourself, I suggest you stop asking."

Kish growled and turned away to find the youngest member of their group floating in front of him. "Why are you so obsessed with her anyway?"

Kish smirked at him and flicked him on the forehead. "You're one to talk, _Taru-Taru_. Especially for the way you are with the monkey."

Tart turned red. "D-Don't call me Taru-Taru! And Pudding and I are only friends!"

"Mmm hmm." Kish muttered slyly. "Is that why I find you watching her through the MegaScope?"

The MegaScope was a super telescope that was so powerful that it allowed the aliens to zero in on the people of earth. They had wanted to keep an eye on their… _friends_.

Within the two years since Deep Blue's defeat, Ichigo had left the Mew Mews to go away to college. The others currently had a new leader named Berry, who seemed to take over Ichigo's role of leadership rather well. But Kish could care less about them. His kitten was his top priority when he used the MegaScope.

And his kitten had grown up to be beautiful. Kish would become very jealous when he saw other guys hitting on her. Especially that stupid Mayasa, Ichigo's boyfriend. Or should he say _ex_-boyfriend. While the two of them had been a couple, they're paths in life separated them. Mayasa went overseas to study, while Ichigo had gone away to another college. Sadly, long distant relationships don't work out so well, so the two decided to put their relationship on hold. After they graduated, they planned on meeting again and seeing if they still had feelings for one another, and if so, they would get back together.

'_Stupid human.'_ Kish thought. _'He loved his career choice more than he loved Ichigo. Well, his lose is my gain. And I won't be stupid enough to let her go.'_

"It's finished." Said Pie.

Kish jumped up and hurried over to his friend. "It is? Really?"

"Really. Though I would suggest testing it before using it."

Kish smiled. "Of course."

He reached for the gun-shaped device, but Pie pulled it out of his reach. Kish gave him a questioning look, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm not saying not to use it." Pie told him. "I just want you to think about this before you make a decision. She will not be happy about this."

Oh, Kish was certain about that. His kitten would be absolutely furious. And if the other Mew Mews found out what he was going to do, oh boy would there be trouble. Good thing his kitten was miles away from them.

"I have thought about it." Kish assured him. "Sure things will be… rough at first. But I'm confident that things will work out in the end." He snatched the device from Pie. "And besides, once I use this on her, she won't have much of a choice."

Pie sighed. "This is wrong and you know it. If it wasn't for you personally requesting it for your coming of age present, I never would have agreed."

Kish slapped him on the back. "Hey, you worry too much. I appreciate your work and thank you for it, but I'll take things over from here."

Tart appeared behind him. "It's not just her you have to worry about. What about the rest of our race? A lot of them hate humans for stealing our planet, even if they did help us in the end." He looked outside. "Although, I personally think our planet is a lot nicer than Earth now that we used the Mew Aqua to fix it. Just think, we could have solved our planet's problems a lot faster if we had just taken the Mew Aqua and not used it on Deep Blue… Pie!"

The oldest alien stubbornly looked away. He had been Deep Blue's biggest supporter, completely devoting himself to the evil god. He was just glad he had seen the error of his ways before he had gotten them all killed.

Kish waved off Tart's worries. "They'll accept her. They won't have much of a choice. How could they deny on of the three 'saviors of our race'? They wouldn't separate him and the one he loves."

"They may accept her," said Pai, "but they may also treat her differently. She could be harassed."

Kish's eyes narrowed. "I will protect her. Anyone who dares to mess with my kitten will have to answer to me." He suddenly became cheerful again. "Enough chit chat. We've got a long journey to Earth. Lets get going."

"Remember," cried Tart, "you promised that I could visit Pudding."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll make a stop at your girlfriend's house."

"S-Stop it Kish! We're just friends… Really… just friends…"

Pie shook his head. _'Why do I get the feeling that this is a very bad idea.'_

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Late again. It didn't matter if she was at the café or at college, Ichigo always seemed to be running late. At least her teachers couldn't dock her pay like Ryou could.

'_But what if they raise my tuition few!'_ she thought worriedly. _'Can they do that? Oh, hurry, Ichigo, hurry.'_

But she was delayed further when she saw an empty soda can on the ground. She picked it up and threw it in the nearest garbage can without even thinking. She had a thing about keeping the environment clean. She wanted to do her part, as she knew that Mayasa, being the environmentalist that he was, was doing his.

Her thoughts turned to her (ex?)boyfriend. Not for the first time she wondered if the reason he was so protective of the planet was because he was Deep Blue's vessel. Or perhaps human incarnation would be a better way of putting it. She didn't know. It was all so confusing. From what she could gather of the whole situation, Deep Blue was a god who created a human version of himself, Mayasa, until he could rise to power as a god again and emerge through his human vessel. But then what did that make the Blue Knight?

Feeling a headache from the heavy thinking coming on, she pushed those thoughts aside. _'I shouldn't worry about it. Deep Blue is gone, and only Mayasa is left. I shouldn't dwell on the past. It will only make me- Wait, I'm still late!'_

She put on a burst of speed and ran towards the college. Why did her dorm have to be so far away from her first class? Everyone else was already in their classes, how come she could never make it in time?

"Hello, kitten."

The unexpected comment caught Ichigo off guard and she tripped over her own feet, falling face first on the ground.

"Ow, that hurt!" she cried. "What? Who is it? Who's their?" She looked around, but saw no one. "G-Ghost?"

"No, up here."

Ichigo looked up to find a familiar yet more mature green haired alien floating right above her. Her mind went blank for a moment until the alien quickly kissed her. Shocked, she jumped back, falling on the ground again.

"W-W-What the?" She blinked, looking at the laughing alien. "Kish? Oh my gosh! Kish, is that you?"

Kish chuckled. "The one and only. Did you miss me?"

Ichigo was speechless. She hadn't seen the alien who claimed to be in love with her for two years. She didn't think she would _ever_ see him again. Now, with his sudden unexpected appearance, she didn't know what to think.

"What are you doing here?"

Kish pouted. "You don't call, you don't write. How do I know you're doing alright?"

Ichigo glared at him. "We live on different planets! How am I supposed to communicate with you?" Her anger drained away as she realized something. "Wait, how'd you know how to find me?"

Kish floated over to her and tapped her on the nose. "I have my ways, kitten."

Ichigo pulled away. "I'm not your kitten! We haven't even seen each other for two years. And now you suddenly appear in my life again. What is it you want?"

Kish smirked. "Just picking something up."

Ichigo blinked. "Picking something… Oh, do you need more Mew Aqua for your planet?"

Kish shook his head. "Oh no, kitten. My planet is doing quite well. Better than yours actually. No, I'm just getting something of mine I left behind."

"Something you left behind? What'd you forget? And why would you be here? Wouldn't you want to look in Tokyo for- Wait a second, I don't have time to play catch up! I'm running late! Sorry, Kish, we'll have to talk after my class."

A mischievous grin appeared on Kish's face as he watched Ichigo run off. He teleported in front of her, blocking her path.

"K-Kish! Get out of my way! I have to get to class."

The green haired alien laughed. "Oh, you don't need to worry about your classes anymore." He assured her, reaching for something behind his back.

Ichigo looked confused. "I won't? Why?"

Kish pulled out the device Pie had made for him, pointing the gun-like object at Ichigo. "You're dropping out?"

"What-"

_Zap!_

Kish fired and Ichigo collapsed. He smirked as he caught her, holding her securely in his arms. "You're mine now, kitten." He said, nuzzling her affectionately. "And unlike that stupid Masaya, I won't let you go."

And he teleported away with her.

**(A/N: Finally taking matters into his own hands, Kish finally got Ichigo. She's not going to be happy when she wakes up. Especially when she finds out what he has planned for her.)**


	2. Chapter 2: On the Ship

**(A/N: Wow, 6 reviews, 1 C2, 5 favs, and 7 alerts. I don't think I've ever had a story have with those stats after just the first chapter. Thank you. And for those of you that have kept up with my past fics, you should know that I normally write one fic at a time. But due to a massive invasion of plot bunnies, I'm currently writing two other fics along with this one, so my updates may be delayed a little longer than normal. I'll try to update one chapter for each story before updating the same story again, but popularity and reviews have a big impact on my updates as well. Just food for thought.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Chapter 2: On the Ship**

Ichigo moaned, rolling over in her sleep. Something soft brushed against her leg. She reached down to feel what it was. Oh, it was only her tail. Strange, her tail hadn't popped out in awhile. Good thing she lived in a single dorm. Having cat ears and a tail popping out all the time would be kind of hard to explain.

Yawning, she snuggled into the blankets. Were they always this soft, and was the mattress always this comfortable?

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

She reached for her alarm clock on the nightstand. She felt only air. After reaching around blindly for a full minute, she opened her eyes to see where her nightstand was, only to find it gone. Not only that, but her entire dorm was gone too. In fact, she didn't have a clue where she was.

"Huh?" She sat up, looking around. Nope, this was definitely not her dorm. This was… she didn't know. "What's happening? Where am…"

"_You're dropping out."_

The phantom voice echoed in her head as she remembered her little… reunion with Kish. She couldn't believe it, the green haired alien had actually kidnapped her.

"Kish…" she growled angrily. "I'm going to kill you. Where's the door? I'm leaving. Oh, just wait until I get my hands on you."

She spotted the door and stormed over to it. Along the way, she passed by a mirror. It wasn't until she took six more steps that what she saw out of the corner of her eye registered to her. She walked backwards until she was in front of the mirror again.

She blinked at her reflection. Doing some tests, she made a few fancy movements, watching as the person looking back mimicked her.

Her scream echoed through the entire ship.

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"Sounds like your kitten is awake." Pie noted.

Kish glared at him. "Hey, the only one who gets to call my kitten kitten is me. Got it."

Tart rolled his eyes. "That's fine, I'll just call her old hag."

"In either case," Pie muttered, "you better go see her before she destroys our ship."

Kish suddenly looked nervous. "Yeah, I guess I should." He hesitated. "Hey, why don't you guys come with me?"

Pie continued to look bored. "If you insist."

Tart chuckled. "Fine, but only because I want to see her rip your head off."

Ignoring the other two, Kish teleported to the room Ichigo was in, with his companions right behind him. Ichigo was still screaming, making the three aliens cover their ears.

"KISH, SHUT HER UP!" Tart yelled, trying to be heard over Ichigo's scream.

Suddenly aware that she wasn't alone, Ichigo turned to the three aliens. Her gaze landed on Kish, and she was suddenly charging at him.

"Kish, what's going on? What happened to me? Where am I? What am I? What'd you do? What's happening?"

Kish couldn't help but grin. "In this order. I brought you here, you're coming with us, you're on our spaceship, you're an alien, I turned you into one, and we're on our way home."

Ichgo blinked. "What?"

"The answers to your questions, kitten."

None of his answers had registered to her. "Stop playing games with me, Kish! What happened to me? Why am I… like this?"

When she said 'like this', she was referring to her appearance. Her skin was paler, her hair had turned the pink color of her Mew Mew form, she had claws, fangs, and long pointy ears. Not to mention her tail was still out.

Kish chuckled. "I think you look very cute, kitten."

"Kish!"

"Alright, alright. I turned you into an alien."

A pin could be heard dropping, it was so silent.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

Kish scratched his chin. "Well, actually, I guess I can't really say you're an alien, because my race isn't really an alien race. We _did_ originate from Earth."

At the moment, Ichigo could care less about origins. "Bu-But, how did you… I'm a… Why am I a…"

"Will you be finishing any of those questions?"

Tart snickered. "The old hag is already senile."

Pie sighed. It looked like he would have to explain things since Kish was having too much fun teasing the girl and Tart was going to be no help. "Allow me to explain." He said calmly. "After witnessing how you humans spliced yourselves with animal DNA, Kish got the idea that perhaps we could do something similar." He held up the gun-like device he designed. "Therefore I constructed this. It's a little device that's capable of changing the DNA of whoever or whatever it's used on. With it, Kish turned you into one of our race." He glanced curiously at Ichigo's tail. "Although, I hadn't taken into account the fact that you had two forms of DNA in you. So it appears that there was a small blend, which is the reason for your hair color and cat tail."

Kish floated behind Ichigo and stroked her tail. "That's ok, I really like your tail, kitten."

Coming out of her state of shock, Ichigo slashed at him with her new alien claws. "Don't touch my tail!" she cried. "Why the heck did you turn me into an alien? Change me back!"

Kish casually flipped his hair to the side. "Sorry, no can do, kitten. You see, in order for Pie's latest invention to work, it needs some DNA of what you want to turn the subject into. It was rather easy getting alien DNA considering we are aliens. But in order for you to change back, you'll need some human DNA. And we're several billion miles away from the nearest one."

Ichigo was seething with fury, her fur on her cat-tail standing on end. "And just… why did you… turn me into an alien… and kidnap me?"

Kish knew that the explosion was about to come. "It will make things a lot easier. I'm taking you back to my home planet. A lot of my people don't like humans for stealing our planet. Besides, I don't know if humans and our kind can reproduce."

Ichigo's anger was momentarily replaced with confusion. "Uh, reproduce?"

"Of course, kitten. You see, I'm of age now, and so I get to take on a bride. And I've chosen you, kitten. You're going to be my mate."

The silence before the storm.

"WHAT? NO, WAY!"

She charged at him. Kish calmly floated up in the air, out of her reach. "Yes, way, kitten. I said you were going to be mine. And now you are."

"Kish, just wait until I get my hands on you. I'm going to- Whoa!" She was suddenly floating in the air. Or spinning through the air was perhaps a better way of putting it. "W-What's going on?"

"Oh, look at that." said Kish, clapping. "You're already flying. You're a natural."

"You!" She managed to straighten herself out and then began swimming through the air towards the alien, moving at a snail's pace. "You kidnap me, turn me into _this_, and then say that I'm going to be your mate, just like that."

Kish nodded, hovering just out of her reach. "Just like that!"

"I never agreed to this!"

"Doesn't matter. Due to special circumstances, you don't get a say."

"The hell I don't!"

Kish turned to the eldest alien. "Pie, please explain."

Annoyed, Pie gave him a look. "Why should I?"

"Because you're the brainy one, and you're good at explaining things."

"He's got you there." Tart replied.

Pie sighed again. "Very well. Listen, Ichigo, because I'm not going to explain this again. On our planet, when one of us reaches the age of 18, it becomes known as our coming of age day. And as you can probably guess, Kish just recently had his."

Kish pouted at Ichigo. "And you didn't even wish me a happy birthday."

"I'll make today your happy _death_day!"

Ignoring the interruption, Pie continued. "On a coming of age day, a male may choose an unmated female of 16 or older to be his mate. And if the parents have no objections to it, then the two become engaged.

"Like us." Said Kish cheerfully.

"There is no us!" Ichigo wailed, trying to control her flying. "And how do I get down from here."

"Just think about being on the floor." Tart replied, as if this were obvious.

Ichigo took a calming breath and did as the youngest alien said. She dropped out of the sky like a brick, landing painfully on her rear end, much to the amusement of the youngest alien. "Ow!"

Kish came up behind her. "Aw, are you ok, my kitten?"

Ichigo whirled around and scratched him across the face with her new claws. "I'm not your kitten, nor am I your fiancée." She turned back to Pie. "You said if my parents don't agree, then there is no engagement."

Pie nodded. "As long as the female in question is not yet of age, then yes, the parents have the final say."

Ichigo whirled back around to Kish. "There is no way my parents would ever agree to this! So there is no engagement."

Kish casually waved his index finger. "Ah, ah, ah. You're forgetting something, kitten. You no longer live with your parents. You've flown the nest. Therefore, among our race, they no longer have a say in your life."

"Which naturally would leave it up to the female to decide if she wants the engagement or not." Pie pointed out.

Ichigo pointed at him. "Ah ha, there, see. You still need my consent, and you're not getting it. I am against this."

Floating to a safer distance, Kish gave her a smile. "But you don't get a say in this, kitten. You're only 17. You're not yet of age, which means you get no say in the matter and it would be up to your parents. But since they no longer have a hold over you."

"Which is why our females normally wait until they come of age before moving out." Pie added.

Kish grinned broadly. "Face it, kitten, among my race, you're free game."

"I'm not of your race!"

Kish casually floated over to the wall and took the mirror off it, holding it in front of Ichigo. "You are now."

Ichigo punched the mirror, shattering it. "I'm already taken. I'm with Masaya."

Tart laughed. "Don't even bother. We know you broke up. We have our ways of keeping track of all of you Mew Mews. Underage, no parental authority, no boyfriend, face it, old hag, you're basically up for grabs."

Growing desperate, Ichigo turned back to Kish. "You're lying. I don't believe a word of this. You're race wouldn't have such stupid laws that would force a woman to get married against her will."

"We use the term mated, kitten." Kish replied. "And is it really so hard to believe. Your own race did it for thousands of years."

Tears welled up in Ichigo's eyes. The green haired alien really had all this planned out. "I hate you, Kish!" she yelled, and ran into the closet, closing the door behind her.

"Oh, kitten," Kish muttered, knocking on the door. "It's not so bad."

"Go away, Kish!" she yelled from the other side. "I never want to see you again!"

Kish turned to his companions and shrugged. "She needs some time alone." He stated casually, and teleported away.

Pie sighed, glancing at Tart, already knowing what the youngest alien would say.

"I think that went well.

**(A/N: Kish is an ass, but you've gotta love the guy. He hasn't changed a bit, though ichigo has matured somewhat, as you'll see in later chapters. I know things may seem bad between the two of them now, but don't worry… it'll get worse. Hee, hee. But Kish has it ALL planned out. That's not to say that everything will go according to plan. You'll see what I mean.)**


	3. Chapter 3: Arrival

**(A/N: I know this was a long delay, and I'm sorry, blame my midterms. But I managed to through together this cute little chapter for your enjoyment.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 3: Arrival**

Kish was getting impatient. For three days now Ichigo had refused to come out of the closet. The only time she opened the door was when he brought food for her. Other then that she stayed locked away. One time he tried teleporting inside and forcibly take her out, but all he came out with her several scratches, a black eye, and a painful bite mark.

"You'd think she'd need to go to the bathroom." Tart commented.

Pie, looking bored as he read a book, didn't even glance up as he said, "She sneaks out to do that occasionally. I showed her where it was."

Kish's eye twitched in irritation. "And why didn't you tell me she was coming out? Just whose side are you on?"

"I'm not on anyone's side. I gave you your coming of age present. That's where my involvement ended."

Kish growled and ran into his room, banging on his closet door. "Ichigo, come out! This is ridiculous!"

"Go away, Kish!"

"How long are you going to stay in there?" He knew the answer before she gave it.

"Until you agree to make me human again and take me back to Earth."

"Not happening, kitten."

"Then I'm not coming out!"

Kish pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. "You can't stay in there forever."

"The how about just until I die!"

'_Touché, kitten.'_

She sure was stubborn. But he loved her stubbornness. He didn't regret his decision of choosing her to be his mate, no matter how reluctant she was. He would get her to come around soon enough.

"We'll be coming up on Earth II in a few hours." he told her. "You'll have to come out then."

"I'm not coming out. Not until you… Did you say Earth II? Is that your planet's name? Couldn't you be more original?"

"I didn't name it, kitten. But trust me when I say that you'll like it. It's a lot nicer than your planet, thanks to the Mew Aqua. It's just a shame the humans don't have the technology to use it like we do."

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

And she fell silent, refusing to respond to of Kish's attempts to talk to her. He considered teleporting inside again, but decided against it… for now. Once they landed, he would have to make her come out. Even if that meant forcibly dragging her out kicking and screaming. He wasn't looking forward to that. His little kitten had claws, literally, and she wasn't afraid to use them.

'_Enjoy your quite time, kitten.'_ He thought. _'It's going to end soon enough.'_

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Four hours later, Earth II was in sight. Tart announced it over the loud speaker so even Ichigo could hear it. Fuming, she curled up into a ball. Even though she had told Kish that she would never be coming out of the closet, she was secretly glad that she would soon be forced to come out. Being cooped up in here was very boring, but she was far too stubborn to give in to Kish's demands. If he wanted her for a mate, he was going to have to fight her tooth and nail, because she was going to fight every step of the way.

'_I still can't believe this is happening.'_ She thought. _'Is a normal life so much to ask for?'_

There was a knock at the door. She picked up Kish's scent. What did he want this time? Couldn't he let her sulk in peace? He'd already ruined her life; let her wallow in her grief for a while.

…Ok, let her wallow in her grief _uninterrupted_ for a while.

"Kitten, did you hear the announcement?"

She snorted. With her improved hearing, how could she not have heard it? In fact, all her senses seemed to have gotten better.

"Kitten, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah!" she snapped. "That means my time in prison has ended and I'm about to enter Hell."

Kish sighed. "Well, you have until we land to come out on your own. Otherwise I'm coming in there to get you."

He received no response, but wasn't expecting one. He left the room, thinking about the events to come. The next few hours were critical for his plan to work. He felt confident that his plan would work, but only if Ichigo kept her mouth shut. He had a plan for that.

"The old hag's attitude getting to you?" Tart asked as Kish walked by.

The older alien bopped him on the head. "Little kids should respect those older and wiser than them."

Rubbing his head, Tart glared at him. "Well, you're right about the older part, but as for the wiser…"

Pie stepped between them before a fight broke out. "We are entering the planet's atmosphere. Unless you want us to crash, I suggest getting to our positions."

"Whatever." Tart grumbled, sticking his tongue out at Kish.

The older alien was about to retort, but Pie hit him over the head the same way he had hit Tart. "And you, being older and wiser, should set a good example for him." He pressed the button for the loud speaker. "Ichigo, if you're really going to stay in the closet, I suggest hovering; it's going to be a rough landing."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Back in the closet, Ichigo frowned. So this was it. They were arriving at Earth II; she still couldn't believe they named it that. Deciding to take Pie's advice, she levitated off the ground. While confined to the closet, she had practiced her flying. Simple hovering was no problem, but the limited space didn't give her much room to fly around.

She knew the instant they entered the atmosphere. It became hot inside, and things got, as Pie said, rather rough. It resulted with Ichigo ending up upside-down with a pile of clothes on top of her.

The other aliens had a much smoother landing, strapped into their seats. Once safely on the ground, they powered off the ship and unstrapped themselves.

"Home sweet home." Tart commented happily. "Look, our fans are already lined up to greet their saviors." He chuckled and glanced at Kish. "Better go get your future mate." Then he said quietly, "I'm gonna enjoy this."

Ignoring the younger alien, Kish went to the closet to get his kitten. He expected a fight, and was ready for one.

"Ok, kitten, time to come out."

"Drop dead."

Kish sighed. "Ok, have it your way."

Pie and Tart watched as Kish bravely went inside the closet. There was shouting and banging around, but after nearly a minute of struggling, he came out carrying Ichigo over his shoulder as she slammed her fists against his back.

"Kish, put me down!" she screamed. "Let go of me right now! Pie, Tart, help!"

Pie, who had been casually leaning against the wall, watching the scene with his arms crossed and a calm expression on his face, simply turned and left the room. "It doesn't concern me." he stated.

Tart on the other hand, was having the time of his life. "Man, I wish I had a camera."

Rolling his eyes, Kish paused to get a better hold on his kitten. "Are you going to behave and come quietly?"

Ichigo continued to struggle. "No way!"

Kish smirked. "Good, that means I get to keep holding onto you."

"Pervert!"

She bit his arm, hoping it would make him let her go, but he only chuckled. "Trying to mark me as your mate already?" She immediately let him go, and causing him to laugh. "If you think me holding you is bad, just wait until L-A-T-E-R…"

It didn't take Ichigo long to figure out Kish's implications, and she blushed.

Tart snickered. "Hey, Kish, she's blushing. Looks like she does want it."

Turning redder, Ichigo shook her head. "Shut up! I told you, I'm not going to be anyone's mate."

"You have no choice, kitten." Kish told her. "Now lets introduce you to your new people. I'm sure they'll love you. Of course, not as much as I do."

"Shove it up your-"

He spanked her rear end. "You're a lady; watch your language. Bad kitties will be punished. Now lets go."

And so, they left the ship; Kish carrying his kitten, Ichigo struggling, Tart laughing, and Pie looking bored.

**(A/N: They have arrived on Earth II; I mostly named it that as a joke. But Ichigo isn't about to give in. Kish is really going to have trouble with her. Especially when a flaw in his plan takes place.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Earth II

**(A/N: Ok, things have been going a little too well for Kish lately. Well we can't have that. It's time to complicate things for him a bit.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 4: Earth II**

The people of Earth II were all happy and eager to see their heroes return. They had left so suddenly, saying that they had some unfinished business on Earth I. They didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't Kish carrying a kicking and screaming girl over his shoulder.

"Let me go, you big pointy eared freak!" Ichigo yelled.

"Your ears are just like mine, kitten." Kish replied. "Now be a good kitty."

"Stop treating me like a pet!"

"Would you prefer me to treat you like my mate?"

"NO!!!"

Whispers broke out among the crowd, everyone wondering who the strange girl was. She was definitely a stranger, but she was also of their race. But what was up with that tail? Was it a tail? That was weird, their race didn't have tails.

Kish stopped in front of his people, grinning at them happily. "We're back!"

A rather old alien stepped forward, nodding in greeting. "It is good to have you back, Kish the Brave."

'_Kish the Brave?'_ Ichigo thought, cutting her eyes.

The green-haired alien smirked. "Hello, elder, it's good to be home."

"You're the one that dragged us back to Earth." Pie muttered.

Tart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but it was worth it."

The elder nodded to the two of them. '"Pie the Wise, Tart the Swift, welcome back." He glanced at Ichigo. "And I see you have a young girl with you. Who is she?"

Kish finally set Ichigo down, pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her to prevent her from getting away. "This is Ichigo. My mate to be!"

Several of the girls' mouths dropped open. "Aw, Kish, no!" they wailed. "Why her?"

The elder raised an eyebrow. "Is she the reason you returned to Earth?"

Kish nodded. "Yup, she was being imprisoned by the humans. I didn't get to rescue her last time."

"That's not true!" Ichigo shouted. "You kidnapped me!"

Kish patted her head. "The poor thing's been brainwashed. The humans wanted to learn about our race from her."

"You lying son of a-"

Kish covered her mouth and whispered in her ear. "You better keep your human heritage a secret. Lots of my kind still feel that humans stole our planet. You wouldn't want them to take their anger out on you."

Ichigo stopped struggling. She realized that he was right. How _would_ these people react if they found out that she was formerly, no, _is_, a human.

"Especially since you were one of the 'evil' Mew Mews." Kish added.

"We weren't evil!" she whispered back.

"Tell that to the people whose planet you stole."

Ichigo growled, but remained silent. The sneaky devil had made it so she had no choice but to pretend to be an alien. Oh, she was going to kill him. Slowly.

One of the younger aliens moved closer to Ichigo and grabbed her tail. "Why does she have a tail?"

Ichigo pulled away from the child. "Don't touch my tail."

"Shh, kitten." Kish shushed her. "Don't put your misplaced anger on others." He smiled at the child. "While on Earth, she was forced to go through terrible experiments. One was splicing her DNA with a cat's. That's why she has a tail."

"That's not true!" Ichigo shouted.

Kish raised an eyebrow. "You mean a certain human didn't mess with your DNA without your consent?"

Ichigo opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. Ok, so what he said was true. But the way he put it…

"The monsters." An alien mumbled. "Treating one of our kind like that."

"It's not like that!" Ichigo yelled angrily. "Humans are really nice and compassionate! They treated me well! They loved me!"

"See what I mean." Said Kish. "Completely brainwashed."

Desperately, Ichigo turned to Pie and Tart. "Guys, back me up!"

"Technically," said Pie, "he's telling the truth."

Tart looked close to laughter. "Yeah, you were a slave to those two boys. They dressed you up in those uniforms and forced you to work for them."

Ichigo glared daggers at them. _'Those jerks! They're twisting the truth.'_

"So we rescued her." said Kish, nuzzling her. "And brought her here, to her real home. I'll be taking care of her."

A rather tall spiky haired alien stepped forward from the crowd. Kish's smile instantly became a frown as the two stared each other down.

"Quite a heroic thing you did, saving her from the humans." Said the alien. "But I can't but help wonder how one of our race ended up on Earth to begin with. Tell me, little girl, how did you manage to get to Earth?"

Ichigo gulped. Something about this alien was making her nervous. Perhaps it was the cold look in his eyes. "I was… born there."

The alien raised an eyebrow. "Really? And where are your parents?"

Before she could reply, Kish covered for her. "She was raised by humans. She doesn't have any parents of our race. Right, kitten?"

"Uh, right." Technically, it wasn't a lie. She _was_ raised by humans, and she _didn't_ have any alien parents. "I was living with humans for as long as I remember."

"And she's been through a lot." Kish finished. "So please stop bothering her."

The elder rested a hand on the other alien's shoulder. "Leave her be, Marmalade. We don't want her to feel nervous. She's welcome here."

The alien, Marmalade, backed away. "If you say so, elder."

Ichigo glanced at Kish. "His name's Marmalade? What's with you people and being named after food?"

Kish cut his eyes at her. "You're one to talk my little _strawberry_."

Ichigo blinked, getting his point. "Touché." She muttered.

Kish smiled, having outwitted her again. He turned back to the crowd. "Ichigo here is my intended. We're to be mated immediately."

"No!" cried Ichigo, along with all the single girls. She began struggling again. "I'm not going to be your mate! Now let me go!"

Kish tightened his hold on her. "We've been through this." he told her, nibbling affectionately on her ear. "You have no choice."

Ichigo shivered. Great, it seemed as if the sensitivity around her ears from when she was a cat had transferred over to her alien form. Or maybe aliens were just sensitive around their ears as well.

Kish smirked. "You like that, don't you, kitten."

Her eyes snapped open and she began thrashing around. "Stop it! I wanna go home!"

"You are home, kitten."

"Am not!"

The elder raised an eyebrow. "It appears the young lady is quite reluctant to be your mate."

"Of course I am!" She glared at Kish. "And just where do you think you're touching, pervert!"

Kish snickered. "It's ok, elder. She has no parents, no potential mate, and she's not of age. I lay claim to her."

Ichigo managed to free an arm, and began pushing Kish's face away from hers. "It's not fair! I was born and raised on Earth! Your customs have nothing to do with me!"

Kish got a grip on her again, holding her securely in his arms, resting his chin on her head. "Don't question your people's ways, kitten."

Ichigo was about to retort, but the elder spoke up first. "Now wait a minute, Kish. I believe the lady has a point."

Ichigo froze, looking at the elder hopefully. Kish, on the other hand, frowned. "Elder, what are you saying?"

"This girl, although one of us, is unfamiliar with our ways. She was raised in a completely different culture. It would not be fair to force her to change her ways."

"Yes!" Ichigo cried happily. "Yes, what he said!"

Kish's eyes narrowed. "We can't change our ways for just one person, elder. If we make an exception for one, we'll have to make an exception for others. And what else will she be excused for. Things like theft were common on Earth. Shall we excuse her from such behavior here as well."

"This and that are completely different things!" Ichigo shouted. Now that Kish's plan had taken a wrong turn, she was planning on keeping things that way.

"Our ways are sacred." Kish continued. "She may have been raised differently, but she's still one of us and must obey our laws."

The elder scratched his chin, thinking about what Kish said. "You do make a point."

"Don't listen to him!" Ichigo begged. "He's just trying to get his way."

"Elder, I risked my life to save our planet and asked for nothing in return. All I want is Ichigo. Will you really deny this one request to the savior of our planet?"

"Hey, I let you have the Mew Aqua that you used to save your planet!"

"Enough!" the elder cried. "This fighting is pointless. You both provided your case, now I will make the decision." He looked at Kish. "Kish, what you say is true about not making exceptions. Stranger or not, this girl will be expected to follow our laws." Kish grinned. "However," he turned to Ichigo, "the girl is also right in saying how she was brought up differently. We can't expect her to change her ways over night simply to suit our benefits."

Both Ichigo and Kish glanced at each other. "So, what are you saying?" they asked together.

The elder killed his throat. "Kish, you may take Ichigo as your mate, but not yet. First she must become familiar with our planet and our ways. You are to wait at least two months before taking her as your mate."

Kish growled irritable, but Ichigo beamed. True, she wasn't out of the woods yet, but she now had two months to escape before Kish had his way with her.

The green haired alien muttered under his breath. So he had reached a snag in his plan. But he couldn't go against his elder's orders. He would just have to wait before making Ichigo his.

"Very well, elder. Two months." He grinned as he whispered in Ichigo's ear. "I'll have you begging for it by then."

He blew lightly in her ear, making Ichigo's hair stand on end. "Don't do that!"

Kish chuckled. "What if she agrees to become my mate before then?"

The elder nodded. "Then I will allow it."

Kish beamed. "Great! Alright, kitten, ready to go home?"

"You mean Earth?" she asked hopefully.

He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder again. "Only if you're referring to _this_ Earth."

**(A/N: Ichigo has managed to buy herself some time. But Kish is determined to keep her. They both have two months. And within that time, Ichigo is planning to escape, and Kish is planning to seduce her. Hee, hee, things are going to get real interesting.)**


	5. Chapter 5: Cannoli

**(A/N: This chapter is a little different from the others. It's funny and sad. You'll see why. Meet you at the bottom.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 5: Cannoli**

Kish kicked open the door, carrying Ichigo bridal style.

"And over the threshold we go!" he announced.

Ichigo began hitting him, strangely enough, she was using the soft part of her hands. "Stop it! I'm not your bride, mate, wife, fiancée, or any other thing you can think up!"

"Such hostility." Kish muttered, smiling. He set her down. "Well, say hello to your new home."

"Hello." Ichigo mumbled. "And goodbye."

He grabbed her tail as she made a run for it. "Come on now. Be a good kitty."

She turned to him, her eyes flashing angrily. "You want me to be a cat, I'll be a cat!"

She slashed at him with her claws. Kish simply teleported away, causing Ichigo to fall down.

"Got a little present for you."

Ichigo suddenly felt something around her neck. She felt around her neck and her mouth dropped open. Kish had put a collar on her! A _collar_! It had a leash too. This was outrageous!

"Get this thing off me!" she shouted.

"Sorry, kitten." He replied, tying the leash to the wall. "But I can't have you running away on me!"

Ichigo's eye twitched. _'First he treats me like a cat, now he treats me like a dog!'_ "How dare you! Ouch!" She grabbed at the leash and received a static shock. She glared at Kish, finding his smirk even more irritating. "What is this thing?"

He simply patted her head. "Don't worry over such small things. This leash will let you go anywhere in the house, but not outside. So be a good kitty and stay here. I'll be back later."

Ichigo's mouth dropped open. "You're… You're just going to leave me here?"

"I've got something to pick up. I won't be gone long. Have a look around while I'm away."

"Kish…" she growled.

"I'll see you a little later. Bye, I love you."

He ducked out the door as Ichigo seized the nearest object she could reach and threw it at him. It smashed against the door, missing her target.

"Have that cleaned up by the time I get back." Came Kish's voice from the other side of the door.

Ichigo was glaring daggers at the door. "Cleaned… up… I'LL SHOW YOU CLEAN!!!"

Throwing a tantrum, she went about turning over furniture and breaking anything that looked fragile. Once or twice she became curious about an object and examined it a bit before she remembered her anger and went about acting like a child.

She finally exhausted herself and curled up on the floor like the cat Kish kept calling her.

"This cat can't be trained." She grumbled. "Hope you like the way I reorganized things."

The doorknob began rattling. Ichigo glared at it, thinking Kish had finally come back. She reached for something to throw at him and got into position. She was just about to throw it when the door opened. But it wasn't Kish that came in.

It was a little girl about four years old. The pointy ears and turquoise hair classified her as an alien, but Ichigo didn't have a clue who she was.

'_What am I talking about? I don't know _anyone_ besides Kish, Pie and Tart.'_

The little girl looked up at her with big pink eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment before the child smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Cannoli." She said.

'_Cannoli?'_ Ichigo thought. _'They _are_ all named after food. Earth food too. I wonder how that is?'_

"What's your name, lady?"

Ichigo blinked. "Huh? Oh, um, my name's Ichigo."

Cannoli cocked her head to the side. "Ichigo?" Her eyes lit up and she beamed happily. "Oh, you're Cannoli's new big sister!"

A confused look crossed over Ichigo's face. "Uh, big sister?"

The girl nodded. "Uh huh! Big brother Kish said he's going to get a mate named Ichigo! So you're going to be Cannoli's new big sister!"

She ran over to Ichigo and hugged her leg, as that was all she could reach. Ichigo watched the girl curiously. This girl was Kish's little sister. Since when did he have a sister?

"Now… now Cannoli, I'm afraid there's been a mis-"

"I always wanted a big sister." Cannoli told her, nuzzling Ichigo's leg. "Cannoli is so happy. Big brother is happy too."

Ichigo made a small noise. She had a soft spot for children. And little Cannoli was _so_ cute!

'_Kish is going to use her against me.'_ she thought irritably.

The door opened again. "Oh boy. I should have expected this." Kish had returned. "Oh, I see you two have already met."

Ichigo glared at him, the look in her eyes telling him that she was putting on a good front for his sister and still fully intending on beating him within an inch of his life later.

"So, you have a sister?" she asked, the smile on her face obviously being forced.

Kish smiled nervously. "Yeah, I went to go pick her up. She was staying with some friends while I was away."

"Why didn't she stay with your parents?"

Ichigo felt Cannoli's grip on her leg tighten as Kish frowned. She looked down and saw that Cannoli's happy face was replaced with a sad one.

"Mama and Papa have are with Grandma and Grandpa now." she whispered sadly. "Big brother Kish is all I have left."

Ichigo felt like she had been slapped in the face. Kish and Cannoli's parents were dead? She had never even given any consideration to any of the alien's families and friends. She and the other Mew Mews had been completely focused on saving the planet.

"I'm… sorry…" She said sadly. "Was it… sudden?"

Cannoli sniffed sadly. "It was when the planet was bad."

Another flash of guilt went through Ichigo. Their parents had died because of the planet's harsh environment. That's why the aliens had come to Earth in the first place, to find a better place for their people.

Kish walked over to them, resting a hand on his sister's head. "Now Cannoli, Ichigo just got here. Lets not tell sad stories." He looked around, noting the mess Ichigo had made. "It seems like a wild animal got in here. Perhaps a wild cat." Ichigo humphed and Kish chuckled. "We'd better clean up a bit."

Cannoli's frown vanished. "Can Cannoli help?"

Kish bent down to her level and smiled at her. "Of course you can. But no touching any glass."

Cannoli beamed. "Yay, I'm helpful!"

She hurried off to start cleaning. Kish smiled at her before turning back to Ichigo. "Please don't mention our parents around her. They died two years ago, but she's still sensitive about it."

Ichigo gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Kish." Then what he said hit her. _'Wait, two years ago. Don't tell that was when…'_ She looked up at him in worry. "Kish, two years ago, that was around the time when you and the others left with the Mew Aqua."

A look crossed over Kish's face as he realized his mistake. It seemed as if Ichigo had figured it out. "Um, you see… That is…"

The look she gave him was desperate. "Please, Kish, tell me the truth!"

Kish groaned. How could he lie to her when she was begging to receive the truth from him? "The environment was really bad before we used the Mew Aqua." He looked away. "They died a week before we returned."

Ichigo's hands went over her mouth as she gasped. The guilt consumed her. It had been her and her friends that had delayed their return. One week. If only they had a left a little earlier. If only… if only…

"Oh Kish, that means my friends and I are responsible."

Before Kish could reply, a loud scream rang through the house.

"Cannoli!" Kish cried, afraid she may have hurt herself.

Ichigo went after him. They found Cannoli in the other room, weeping.

"Cannoli, what's wrong?" Kish asked.

He suddenly gasped, looking horrified. Ichigo didn't see the problem. Cannoli seemed fine. Well, physically fine. She had no idea why the girl was crying.

"What happened?" she asked.

Cannoli looked up at her, tears running down her cheeks. She pointed to a crystal figurine that lay in pieces on the floor. Ichigo distinctively remembered smashing it in her rage earlier.

Cannoli continued to weep. "Mama" _-sniff-_ "and Papa" _-sniff-_ "gave that to _-sniff-_ "Cannoli right before" _-sniff-_ "they died!"

Again Ichigo was consumed by guilt.

**(A/N: I know, I know, the Kish has a sister thing has been done to death, but a sister just suits him so well. Especially a really little one. I think Cannoli is adorable. And Ichigo made her cry. Oh, don't worry, thing's will work out in the end… Or will they.)**


	6. Chapter 6: Making Up For A Mistake

**(A/N: Cliffhanger's over. Now you'll see how Ichigo deals with the situation.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 6: Making Up For A Mistake**

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. She was the victim here. She shouldn't be feeling guilty. She had a right to be angry. She had been kidnapped, transformed, and forced into this strange society. Kish was the one to blame, not her. It was all his fault.

So why did she feel so bad?

'_Stupid, Kish. If he hadn't kidnapped me then this…'_

She glanced at the alien as he picked up the pieces of whatever it was she had broken. No amount of glue would fix it. She had destroyed the final gift of their parents.

'_Great, just great. How can I make this better?'_

She glanced at Kish again. He was being cold towards her now. Was he angry with her? Did he hate her? Why did she even care?

'_Because he's all I have in this strange world. I'll have to rely on Kish if I want to survive.' _Swallowing her pride, she apologized. "Kish, I'm really sorry. I didn't know it was anything important."

He looked at her with a blank expression. "Would it have made a difference? Would you still feel just as guilty if it had been only me you hurt and not Cannoli?"

"Of course, I don't want to hurt anyone! You can't blame me for being angry though, not after what you did to me!"

"I don't blame you for being angry, kitten. Your fire is one of the things I love about you. However, I also love my sister. She's the only family I have left. And I won't stand for her to be hurt. Not even by you."

Ichigo winced and looked away. She looked down at the leash connected to her. "Kish, can you take this collar off me please."

He eyed her suspiciously. "And why should I? You'll just run away."

"And go where?" Ichigo asked. "I can't escape, I have no where I can run to. You've seen to that. At least let me have some freedom."

Kish looked at her for a moment. "Alright, kitten." He said, removing the collar. "I may be selfish to treat you like this, but I'm not a monster. I can be hurt too."

Ichigo nodded. "I don't want to hurt anyone. But right now, I just need to have some feeling of freedom. So can I go outside?"

Kish reached out and gently stroked her cheek. "You're not my prisoner, kitten. You may go where you want. But I won't let you leave me. And just know that I only put that collar on you to stop you from doing something reckless."

Ichigo ignored him and went outside. She half expected Kish to follow her, but he didn't. He was comforting his sister.

'_So he's not completely selfish. He does have his good points and cares for others.'_

Her thoughts turned to Cannoli. She felt bad for upsetting her. Kish was one thing, but she couldn't let Cannoli be hurt. And the child seemed so happy to be gaining a sister.

'_That's not fair, Kish. Using her like that. I have a weakness for kids.'_

She felt something pull on her tail. She looked down to see several children gathered around her, looking at her curiously.

"It's soft." Said the child holding Ichigo's tail.

Ichigo pulled her tail away. "Please leave my tail alone."

"Children, leave her be." Called an older alien. The kids ran off laughing. The older alien sighed and walked over to Ichigo. "Forgive them. They're merely curious."

Ichigo nodded. "It's ok. I like kids. My friend Pudding has a lot of siblings their age."

"Pudding?" The alien repeated. Her eyes narrowed. "A human?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yes, and don't look at me like that. Regardless of what you all think or what's happened, humans are capable of compassion."

"They stole our planet!" the alien snapped.

"You abandoned Earth. Humans evolved to become the dominant race on your place. Then you suddenly return, expecting us all to die so you can live on your original home planet. That doesn't exactly make you look innocent."

The alien looked confused. "You're speaking as if you are one of them."

Ichigo covered her mouth, noticing her slip. "I… uh… well, I was raised among them. I too saw Kish and the others as evil beings that wanted to take away our home. And then he kidnapped me from my family, I mean, the people I viewed as my family. So you see, evil isn't always so black and white. It's a point of view in certain cases." She gave the alien a hopeful look. "Humans and our race aren't all that different. We're all children of Earth and wanted to live. That is not a crime."

The alien looked at her for a moment, considering her words. Then she chuckled. "You surprise me. Ichigo, was that your name?" Ichigo nodded. "Nice to meet you, my name's Yogurt."

Ichigo rolled her eyes. _'Of course it is.'_ "Hello, Yogurt. I hope we can be friends."

The alien winked at her. "Oh, I don't know if I can be friends with my love rival."

Ichigo blinked. "Love rival? You mean Kish? Ew, no way! Pass! You can have him if you want him. This whole engagement thing was all his idea. I want nothing to do with it and with him."

Yogurt looked surprised. "Really? Now that's interesting. I didn't think there was a single female on this planet that didn't want Kish as their mate. Pie is a close second, and when Tart grows up, he's sure to be a real lady killer. Too bad he seems to be taken too. Something about someone named Pud…ding…" Her eyes widened. "It can't be."

Ichigo gasped. "No, wait, it's not what you think. Pudding was…" she couldn't believe what she was going to say, "another person that was experimented on by the humans. She had her genes spliced with a monkey."

Yogurt raised an eyebrow. "I'm getting confused. You know what, I don't care. I'm not getting involved with this. Miss Ichigo, it was a pleasure talking to you. Just make sure you don't go falling for Kish, or I'll get angry."

As Yogurt teleported away, Ichigo turned red. "I'm not going to fall for Kish!"

There was a soft chuckle from above her. Ichigo looked up to see the alien known as Marmalade floating over her head. He was watching her with an amused look on his face. "You are truly an interesting creature, Ichigo. I can see why Kish would fall for you. You two are well matched."

Ichigo crossed her arms. "I am not going to be Kish's mate. He's pushy, arrogant, and selfish."

Marmalade chuckled. "Glad to see that not everyone loves him."

Ichigo blinked, noting the look in the alien's eye. Whoever this alien was, he didn't like Kish. "Of course I don't love him. I hate his guts. In fact, I just got done destroying his house."

Again Marmalade laughed. "Harsh, woman. I bet he wasn't happy about that."

Ichigo winced, remembering the crystal figurine she had broken. "Actually, it was his sister I hurt the most. I ended up breaking the last thing her parents gave her."

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "That pretty crystal statue she adored? If that's all it is, I can show you where to get another one."

Ichigo blinked. Get another one. "I think it's the sentimental value that matters."

Marmalade rolled his eyes. "That's just stupid."

He grabbed her and teleported away. They reappeared inside a shop that sold knickknacks and trinkets. Ichigo looked around, caught off guard by the sudden change in scenery. Marmalade casually walked over to a shelf and picked up a crystal figurine that was an exact replica of the one she had broken.

"Here." He tossed it to her. "One trinket is as good as another, or at least better than nothing."

Ichigo looked at the small figurine. "I can't simply replace what her parents gave her."

Marmalade just shrugged. "Cannoli is but a child. You could at least offer it as an apology. I don't care either way."

He suddenly teleported away, leaving Ichigo alone. She looked back at the object in her hand. True, it could never replace the one she broke, but at least it was something.

'_But I've got no money. The shopkeeper won't give it to me for free.'_ Her gaze shifted to her watch. _'Maybe they'll accept a trade. It's not everyday you get an artifact from another planet.'_

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

After getting lost several times, she finally managed to find her way back to Kish's house. It actually wasn't all that far from the shop. She saw Cannoli sitting outside by the door and her heart clenched.

'_Well, her it goes.'_ She walked up to the little alien. "Hi, Cannoli."

Cannoli looked up at her. "Ichigo, where'd you go?"

Ichigo bent down to her and held out the crystal figurine. "I'm sorry, Cannoli. I know it won't replace the one I broke, but I wanted to make it up to you."

Cannoli accepted the figurine. She looked at the object for a moment before looking up at Ichigo and smiling. "Thank you, sister Ichigo, but big brother Kish already fixed the other one."

Ichigo's face fell. "Huh?"

Kish had… fixed it? But how? She opened the door and ran inside. The place was spotless. Everything she had destroyed was as good as new. It was as if she had never thrown her tantrum. In fact, the place looked _cleaner._

"What… but… how… it's… I… what…"

There was a chuckle as Kish walked into the room, holding the now repaired trinket that Cannoli had been so upset over. It looked as good as new. "Our technology is far beyond the humans', kitten. Repairing a broken object back to perfection is really very simply."

Ichigo's mouth was hanging open. "Then… why did you… make it out to be such a big deal?"

Kish chuckled. "To teach you a lesson, so you wouldn't do it again. Besides," he batted his eyes at her, "it made you see that I have feelings too."

"Kish…" Her nails dug into her palms, her eyes flashing angrily. "YOU PUT ME THROUGH THAT, MADE ME FEEL GUILTY JUST TO TEACH ME A LESSON!"

"Cannoli help." He pointed out.

Ichigo turned to Cannoli, who was smiling happily. "What? You helped?"

The little alien nodded. "Cannoli's a good actor."

Kish laughed. "You're fun to tease."

"Kish…" She snatched the replacement figurine from Cannoli's hands and threw it at Kish's head as hard as she could. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**(A/N: Poor Ichigo. Kish just loves messing with her. True, she's even more angry with him now than she was before, but he got his point across, which was that he has feelings too. And we haven't seen the last of Marmalade and Yogurt. They'll be in future chapters.)**


	7. Chapter 7: In the Village

**(A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I had finals this week. I still managed to find time to write this though. I'm particularly happy with the way this one turned out. Happy reading.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 7: In the Village**

"What?" Ichigo shouted when Kish told her the sleeping arrangements. "Uh, uh, no way! I am not sleeping in your bed with you! You can sleep on the couch."

Kish chuckled. "This is my house, kitten, and I'm certainly not going to sleep on the couch because my mate doesn't want to share a bed."

"I'm not your mate! Stop calling me that! And I'd sooner sleep on the floor than with you."

Kish shook his finger at her. "Ah, ah, I won't have my soon-to-be mate sleeping on the floor. Now get in the bed like a good kitty."

Fuming, Ichigo climbed into the bed. Kish smirked and went to get in the bed too, but Ichigo kicked out at him.

"Go away. I said I'm not sleeping with you."

Avoiding her kicks, Kish managed to grab her foot. He climbed into bed and pinned her down, his face just inches from hers.

"You're so stubborn." He told her. "I like that about you. You're my fiery feline."

Ichigo struggled underneath him. "Get off of me!"

He chuckled. "Only if you agree to be good and go to sleep. I mean it, Ichigo, don't make me get the leash again."

Ichigo glared at him. No way, she would not be humiliated by having that stupid leash put on her again. She'd give in, for now.

"Fine, you win. Now get off me."

Kish thought about it for a moment. "You know, I sort of like where I am."

"I said get off me!"

She pushed him off her. Kish laughed as he let her have her way. She was so cute when she was angry.

"Just stay on your side." Ichigo snapped, turning on her side, facing away from him.

Shaking his head, Kish pulled the blanket up over them. And, regardless of Ichigo's demand, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

"Hey!" she shouted. "I said to stay on your side!"

"Kitten, this whole bed is my side, as it's my bed. _Our_ bed now."

"I am _not_ sleeping like this!"

"Good night, kitten."

Ichigo began to struggle. "Damn it, let go!"

His hold on her only tightened. "It's not too late for me to get the leash."

Ichigo stopped struggling. Damn him, was he going to constantly threaten her with that stupid leash? "Manipulative bastard." She muttered, before closing her eyes.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

When Ichigo woke up the next morning, her finger was hurting. Getting up she rubbed her eyes and looked at her finger to see the cause of her pain. Her finger was swollen and purple. She immediately saw why. Someone had tied a red thread around her finger. And she had a feeling that she knew what the other end of the string was tied to. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw that the thread was indeed tied to Kish's finger as well, though not so tight that it cut off the blood circulation.

"Surprise!" Ichigo jumped as Cannoli popped up. The child gigged before climbing onto the bed and sitting next to Ichigo. "Look what Cannoli did." She motioned to the red thread.

"I see that." said Ichigo, trying to untie the thread, which proved to be difficult with one hand. "And why did you do that?"

"Big brother Kish said that where you come from, the people that are destined to be together have a red thread tied to their fingers that connected them. Cannoli tied it for you."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the child's innocence. "Yes, the Red Thread of Fate. But it doesn't work like this."

Cannoli frowned. "It doesn't?"

There was a chuckle from the male alien, indicating that Kish had woken up. "Cannoli, don't bother Ichigo with silly things. Now go get ready, I'll be up to make your breakfast soon."

"Ok!"

The child hopped off the bed and ran from the room laughing. Ichigo couldn't help but smile as she watched her go.

"She's a really sweetheart, isn't she?" said Kish.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah." She held up her hand, showing Kish her aching finger. "Can you help me with this?"

Kish smiled. "Anything for you, my kitten."

He took her hand and untied the thread. Ichigo sighed in relief as the blood began flowing again and the feeling in her finger came back.

"Ow, how tight did she make it?" she wondered out loud.

"My poor Ichigo." Said Kish, stroking her finger.

Then, before she could stop him, he leaned forward and took her swollen finger in his mouth, sucking on it gently. The hairs on the back of Ichigo's neck stood up as she turned red with embarrassment.

"W-What are you doing?" she cried.

Kish took her finger out of his mouth. "Just trying to make my kitten feel better." He said, then pressed a kiss to her open palm.

Ichigo pulled her hand back, wiping it off on her shirt. The look on her face told Kish that she didn't know how to react.

"Don't do that." she said.

Kish just chuckled. "But didn't it feel good?"

"N-No!"

"Liar, but I'll let it go for now." He hopped out of the bed. "Well, it's the start of a new day. I've got some things to do, so why don't you go familiarize yourself with the village."

Ichigo crossed her arms. "I don't intend on staying here long enough to have to memorize anything."

Kish just smirked. "If you say so." He said, and teleported away just as Ichigo threw a pillow at him.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Regardless of what she had told Kish, Ichigo did in fact spend the day learning her way through the village. Aside from the advanced technology, the alien culture wasn't all that different from Earth. They had all the basics such as stores, restaurants, and other work places. The people walked around, going about their lives like any human would do.

'_I still can't believe I'm here with all these aliens. Oh wait, I'm on their planet; doesn't that make me the alien?'_

Putting whether she was the alien or not aside, Ichigo continued looking around. She needed to think of a way to get back to Earth, but no one seemed like they would be able to help her. These were simple people, living their daily lives, not knowing the true predicament she was in.

'_I wonder if anyone of them knows how to fly a spaceship.'_ She thought. _'Hmm, no one here seems like they're a pilot.'_

As she continued looking through the crowd of aliens, her eyes widened as she saw someone familiar.

"Hey, is that?" she whispered. She shook her head to clear it, but they were still there. "It is! It's him!" She ran to him, a feeling of relief that her rescuer had come. "Blue Knight!"

She threw her arms around him. The Blue Knight stumbled and looked down at Ichigo in surprise. "Um, Blue Knight? Excuse me? I think you're mistaken."

Ichigo looked up and gasped. Now that she was this close, she realized that it _wasn't_ the Blue Knight, just an alien that resembled him. Her rescuer wasn't here to save her.

"Hey, aren't you that Ichigo?" the Blue Knight look alike asked. "Kish's future mate?"

Realizing that she was hugging a complete stranger and making a scene in front of a bunch of people, she jumped back with a squeak, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else! You look like this person I know."

The alien nodded and gave her a smile. "No harm done. Have a good day, Miss Ichigo."

Ichigo waved nervously as the alien disappeared in the crowd. How embarrassing! She'd made a complete fool of herself. Of course the Blue Knight wouldn't be here. Masaya didn't even know she was here. On top of that, he had lost the ability to turn into the Blue Knight after Deep Blue was defeated. Was she really that desperate?

She turned and walked away from the crowd, wanting to be by herself. She ducked behind a store and sighed, glad to be away from all the people who had been staring at her.

"OH! Ichigo, you idiot!" she cried, hitting herself over the head. "What was I thinking, believing that Masaya was here? He thinks I'm still away at college, so does everyone else. It'll be months before they even find out I'm gone. I could be stuck here for a very long time." She sighed. "Great, then I'm going to end up marrying Kish."

"That's not going to happen."

Startled, Ichigo looked up to find a group of female aliens hovering a few feet over her head. She didn't like the expressions on their faces. They looked angry. At her? Why, what did she do?

"So this is the tramp that thought she could steal our Kish from us." Said one of the aliens. "Candy was right, there's nothing special about you. Tell us, girl, what trick did you use to fool our Kish?"

Ichigo blinked. "Tricks? What? I didn't do anything? He was the one that fell for me and brought me here against my will. He's nothing but a big jerk!"

_Slap!_ One of the girls stepped forward and slapped Ichigo. She looked at the alien girl with surprise and hurt. "What was that for?"

"How dare you insult our Kish!" cried the alien that slapped her. "You're not worthy of him! You're a nasty ugly girl that just wants to take our Kish from us!"

"That's right!" cried another girl. "You should just disappear! We were better off without you!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. _'This is just like on Earth. They're all jealous and are just being mean. The girls on Earth are the same way.'_ Rubbing her cheek, Ichigo stood up straight. "Look, I don't know you, and I don't want to. You have no right to treat me like this. I haven't done anything to you. And I have no intention of being Kish's mate, so you have no reason to be jealous-"

"Jealous!" cried one of the aliens. "Us, jealous? Why would we be jealous of an ugly freak like you? You with your cat tail and your association with humans. You should have stayed with those wicked planet stealing bastards."

Ichigo glared at them. "Wicked, huh? You know, you guys are behaving just like humans do when they're jealous of someone."

One of the girls stepped forward. "Why you…"

She raised her hand to slap Ichigo again. Ichigo shut her eyes, waiting for the blow to hit, but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw Kish standing behind the girl that was about to hit her, holding her wrist.

"Kish!" the girl cried.

Kish glared at her. "That's enough from you." He released the girl and went to stand by Ichigo, wrapping an arm around her as he continued glaring at the others. "All of you. I will not allow you to harass my Ichigo."

"But Kish," one of the girls cried, "she's not good enough for you!"

Kish raised an eyebrow. "And you are?" He received no response. "If I had chosen anyone else besides Ichigo, would you still not have treated that person the same way, with anger and jealousy?"

None of the aliens said anything, but they glanced at each other, looking uncomfortable. Kish had boxed them into a corner, and they knew it.

Kish continued to give them angry looks. "I am free to make my own decisions, and I alone will decide who to give my love to." He walked over to Ichigo and wrapped his arms around her. "And I have chosen Ichigo."

He suddenly turned Ichigo's head and pressed a kiss to her mouth. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as he kissed her long and hard.

Breaking the kiss, he turned back to the alien girls. "You say that Ichigo is not worthy of me. Well, for your information, she has done what all of you could not. She has conquered my heart. I will love her and only her. So you better not be mean to her anymore. I won't forgive you if you treat her badly again. Now get out of here."

Looking rather upset, the alien girls all retreated, leaving Ichigo and Kish alone. Ichigo was still shocked by the kiss he had given her. She had never been kissed like that before, not even by Masaya. It had felt… nice.

Kish grabbed Ichigo's shoulders and turned her to face him. "Are you ok?"

Ichigo blinked. "Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I am so sorry. I should have expected this. I knew I had a fan club. I should have been there to protect you."

"Kish, really, I'm fine."

He only hugged her tighter. "I love you so much, Ichigo." He whispered. "You have no idea how precious you are to me."

Ichigo suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. Poor Kish. She never did once consider his feelings. She knew how he had felt about her, but never once had she ever thought about him.

"Kish…" she whispered. "Um, thank you for helping me. You were really cool back there."

Kish let go of her and took a step back. He studied her for a moment before his trademark grin appeared on his face again. "You just fell for me a little bit, didn't you?"

Ichigo turned red. "W-W-What? I most certainly did not!"

The alien chuckled. "Yes… you… did…" he said, tapping her nose with each word.

"I did not!"

She pushed his hand away and stormed away from him. Kish watched her go, smiling all the while. _'Just you wait, Ichigo. I'll win your heart yet.'_

**(A/N: Cute, isn't it? Ichigo is realizing that Kish isn't such a bad guy. That's not to say that she's forgiven him, but he is slowly having an affect on her. But can Kish win her over before the two months are up? Because he's planning on taking her as his mate whether she's willing or not… Or so he says.)**


	8. Chapter 8: Discovered

**(A/N: I'm sorry this took so long, but I was away for the holidays. Did everyone have a good Christmas? Well, it may be late, but here's my gift to all of you. The next chapter.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 8: Discovered**

Kish was always an early rising. So today was no exception. He rubbed his eyes, covering his mouth to stifle a yawn. He felt movement beside him and looked to see Ichigo still sleeping. She had unconsciously snuggled up beside him during the night, seeking his body warmth. It made him smile.

'_Even in your sleep you're drawn to me.'_

He reached out and stroked her hair. She made a small moaning noise and snuggled up closer to him, making him chuckle.

"Ichigo," he cooed, "come on, kitten, it's time to wake up."

She made another small noise and rolled onto her back. That was ok, he could work with that.

He leaned down, rubbing his cheek against hers. "I'm not giving you up, Ichigo. Not ever. You're mine."

Then he kissed her. At first she just laid there, but then she surprised him by kissing him back. He knew that she was still sleeping and didn't realize what she was doing, but that didn't stop him from enjoying it.

'_What if she's dreaming about kissing that Masaya?'_

The thought infused him with jealousy and he put more passion into the kiss, almost as if this would prove that he was better. The extra force made her start to stir and her eyes slowly opened. At first she didn't seem to realize what was happening, but then her mind completely woke up and her eyes widened.

"Mmm!" she cried out.

Her protests were smothered by Kish's lips, but he got the message loud and clear. Still, that didn't stop him. He grabbed her flailing arms and pinned them to the bed, sitting on her legs so she couldn't kick him as he continued to kiss her.

Now she was getting angry. She was not going to let him take advantage of her.

"Ouch!" Kish cried, jumping off her. "You bit my tongue."

Ichigo sat up, wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand. "Then keep it in your own mouth!"

Her statement just made Kish laugh and he began crawling towards her. "Come on, be honest. That was the best wake up you ever had."

Ichigo blushed. "Y-You come any closer and I'll… I'll…"

He raised an eyebrow. "You'll what, kitten?"

She made to get out of bed, but was pulled back. She turned around to find Kish holding her tail. She angrily swiped at him and he jumped back laughing.

"You're such a pervert!"

He shook his finger at her. "Now don't say that, kitten. It's common on my planet, as well as yours, to want to show your affection for the one you love. And that's exactly what I'm doing." He reached out and gently traced his finger up her arm. "Of course, I want you to be willing as well."

Ichigo pulled away. "I'm not staying in this house when you're in this kind of mood. I'm going out."

"So early? Don't you want breakfast?"

Her stomach suddenly growled and she blushed. "W-Well, I guess so."

He pulled her towards him. "Good, and after I make you your breakfast, _you_ can be mine."

Her fist collided with his jaw. "Never mind, I lost my appetite!"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"Stupid Kish. Stupid Kish. Stupid Kish."

The residents of Earth II back away as she stormed angrily down the street. Some whispered to each other about her bad mood, but she was too upset to notice.

'_Thinks he can just take advantage of me. I'm not some… some… sex toy! How long until he actually forces himself on me? Oh yeah, two months. Well I'm not sticking around for that. I am so out of here… as soon as I find a way to leave… and return to normal.'_

But how was she going to do that? This wasn't an everyday situation she found herself in. She was light years from home and in an alien body. How could she fix this?

'_Well, Ryou and Keiichiro are pretty smart. I'm sure they can find a way to change me back. After all, the spliced my DNA with a cat's, and they turned me into a super hero.'_

But getting to them was the problem. She would need a spaceship. And where was she going to find one of those, let alone learn how to operate one?

'_Ok, things to do. Number one, find a spaceship. Number two, learn how to fly it. Number three, somehow travel countless miles back to Earth. Number four, find a way to become human again.'_ After a moment's thought. _'Number five, come back here and kill Kish!'_

Yeah, right. And just how exactly was she going to pull off those tasks. Killing Kish she could do at any time, but the other four.

"AH! IT'S NOT FAIR! STUPID KISH! WHY COULDN'T HE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! KIDNAPPING IS ILLEGAL! AND ISN'T MESSING WITH SOMEONE'S GENETIC SEQUENCE ALSO AGAINST THE LAW?"

"So noisy."

Ichigo snapped out of her tantrum and looked up. A certain alien was sitting on a tree branch, watching her curiously.

"Ah!" Ichigo cried, not expecting to have been spied on. "M-M-M-Marmalade! What are you doing here?"

The spiky haired alien chuckled. "I _was_ enjoying the peace and quiet until you came along and started shouting." He hopped down from the tree and floated to the ground. "Now, what was that you were saying about Kish messing with your gene sequence?"

Ichigo paled. "W-What are you talking about?"

Marmalade cut his eyes at her. "Don't bother denying it. You said that Kish messed with your DNA. That wouldn't have anything to do with that tail of yours, would it?"

"No, that was Ryou and Keiichiro."

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Ichigo just waved it off. "Two boys from Earth. They spliced my DNA with a cat's to give me powers so I could fight the aliens- I mean, because they were mean nasty humans!"

She smiled nervously, hoping he didn't notice her slip.

No such luck. Marmalade stared at her suspiciously before walking over to her. "I had thought there was something that didn't make sense. One of our own kind just happening to live on Earth. Kish and his friends just happening to come upon you. Waiting two years before staging a rescue for you, the suddenly claiming you as his mate." He gave her a pointed look. "Must I go on? There's a lot more things that don't make sense. So are you going to tell me the truth, or am I going to have to bring this up during a town meeting?"

Ichigo sucked in her breath. No, she couldn't have the others finding out her secret. Who knew what would happen?

"If… if I tell you, will you promise to keep it a secret?"

"That depends." Said Marmalade thoughtfully. "You only tell a secret to someone you trust. And I can't trust you if you lie to me. So show me that you're trustworthy, and I'll show you that I am as well."

Ichigo looked confused by his words, but decided that he meant that he would keep her secret if she told him the truth.

With a sigh, she gave in. "Ok, I guess I'll start from the beginning."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Marmalade found Ichigo's story very interesting. He took a particular interest in Deep Blue, and he loved the parts where she beat Kish up all the time.

"That is quiet a story, Ichigo." He commented. "So, you were once a human, had your DNA spliced with a cat and gained superpowers, fought a deranged god, helped save your race and our own, had your DNA spliced again, and brought far from your home." He chuckled. "It'd make an interesting series of stories."

Ichigo just shrugged. "Just please don't tell anyone. Humans really aren't that bad. I don't want everyone to hate me because of miscommunication between our races."

He just smirked. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. I actually wished you had told me sooner. I could be of some help."

Ichigo's mouth dropped open and she grabbed onto his shirt. "For real? You'll really help me?"

He swatted her hands away. "Not for you. This is simply to spite Kish." He snickered. "It's about time he fell from grace."

"You're one to talk!"

Marmalade turned around to face the newcomer. "Well, hello there, Retart."

"The name's Tart!" the young alien shouted. "Just what are you up to this time?"

Marmalade glanced at Ichigo and winked. "Just talking to Kish's _prisoner_ of love." The word 'prisoner' clearly had a double meaning. "I'll see you later, Ichigo." He nodded at Tar. "So long, Retart."

"It's Taru-Taru! I mean Tart!" He growled as Marmalade disappeared, then turned his attention on Ichigo. "Why were you talking to that jerk?"

Ichigo wondered if she should tell him about Marmalade discovering her secret. She decided against it, seeing how there seemed to be enough hostility between Tart and Marmalade.

"Just trying to socialize." She said with a forced smile.

Tart just rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't get involved with that guy. If he's being nice to you it's merely to spite Kish. He hates him."

"Why?" Ichigo asked curiously. "What's the deal with them?"

Tart sighed. "Long story short, Marmalade was a candidate to be on the mission to save our planet. The two of them were rivals in who would be chosen. Kish was picked in the end because he really wanted to save our race, while Marmalade was more interested in gaining the glory of being our race's savior." He shrugged. "Things have been hostile between the two ever since. He doesn't like Pie or me either, but his hatred is mostly directed towards Kish."

"Hmm, well I guess I can see why he likes me; because I don't see Kish as a hero either. He's nothing but a big jerk who thinks he can take whatever he wants." She glared at Tart. "And you're no better."

Tart raised an eyebrow. "What'd I do?"

Ichigo crossed her arms and turned away. "You know darn well what you did. You helped him kidnap me and everything." She suddenly got an idea. "You know, I bet Pudding is really missing me right now. She would be _so_ grateful to whoever helped me escape."

She peeked over her shoulder, expecting to see Tart ready and willing to help her. Instead he was staring at her with a bored expression on his face.

"Do I look like an idiot to you? You might as well accept your situation, because I can tell you one thing right now, Kish isn't going to let you go."

He teleported away, much to Ichigo's annoyance. "You guys are nothing but big jerks!"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

As reluctant as she was to return to Kish's house, hunger eventually got the better of her. But if Kish tried to feel her up, or grope her, or kiss her, or do anything perverted in anyway one more time, she was going to remove his reason for being a man!

"I'm back- Oof!"

The moment she opened the door, Cannoli slammed into her, hugging her tightly.

"Big sis came back!" she cried happily. "Cannoli was afraid you would run away after the big fight you and big brother had."

Ichigo's heart immediately melted. She had such a weak spot for the child. "Don't worry, Cannoli. I don't have anywhere to go."

Cannoli giggled. "Big brother chose a good mate. Cannoli is very happy. Oh!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Cannoli has a message for you. She was given a special mission to make sure you get it and not to have big brother Kish find out."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. A message? For her? "Who sent it?"

Cannoli chuckled. "No one sent it. They dropped it off."

Ichigo rolled her eyes. "So who dropped it off?"

"The guy with the spiky hair."

"The guy with the spiky… Marmalade?"

Cannoli nodded. "That's him. He wanted Cannoli to give this to you, and not to tell anyone about it."

"Um, ok." She took the piece of paper from the child. "But what's about?"

"Cannoli does not read other peoples' letters."

Ichigo smiled at the child's innocence and unfolded the letter. Her eyes widened when she read the signal sentence on it.

_I know how to get you home._

**(A/N: A way back home? Is it possible? And is Marmalade trustworthy? See what's in store for Ichigo next time.)**


	9. Chapter 9: Escape

**(A/N: I was having a little trouble with this chapter. Writer's block and all that. Not to mention the store I worked at closed down, so now I have to mind another job. I HATE job hunting! At least writing relaxes me. Enjoy.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 9: Escape**

"Where are you taking me?" Ichigo asked.

"Be quiet and follow me. Marmalade scolded. "You want to go home, right?"

"Yeah, but you haven't told me anything. You leave me a note saying you know how to get me home, then you disappear for two days, then just stop by when Kish isn't home and practically kidnap me."

Marmalade rolled his eyes. "I didn't kidnap you. I was gone because I was making preparations, and I waited until Kish left because he would never let you go off with me on your own." He stopped and crossed his arms. "But if you'd rather stay here with him…"

"No, no, no! I'm sorry. I just want to know what I'm getting into."

Marmalade growled impatiently. "I've got a ship that can take you home. I just don't want anyone to see me helping you or else they'll get suspicious and tell," he batted his eyes and spoke in a high-pitched voice, "_'the savior of our race'_, that his mate to be is running away. And then you can forget about getting home."

Ichigo's shoulders sank. "Ok, I'm sorry. I really appreciate everything you're doing for me."

Marmalade snorted. "I'm a selfish person, Ichigo. I'm not doing this for you. Kish is going to be really ticked off about this, and I can't wait to see it." He chuckled. "So don't thank me, cause I'm doing this for me. Now keep low and follow me."

Ichigo nodded and crept after Marmalade. She was glad to be going home. She just hoped that Kish wouldn't be too mad.

She shook her head, getting angry with herself. _'What am I thinking about? Why should I care if he gets mad? He kidnapped me. Did he think I would just take that sitting down?'_

Her anger at Kish made her more determined. Let the guy die from heartbreak for all she cared. Let Yogurt have him or one of his other fan girls.

For a strange reason, that thought made her angrier. Why would she get angry about that? She didn't care for Kish. Ok, so he wasn't all bad, and could be rather sweet at times, but he was so cocky and so possessive, thinking he could just take whatever he wanted.

'_That's it! That's why I'm angry thinking about Kish being with anyone, because he doesn't _deserve_ to be with anyone after he kidnapped and changed me. Yeah, that's it. The thought of injustice is what angered me.'_

But then her thoughts turned to someone else who would suffer with her departure. She was thinking, of course, about little Cannoli. She loved that kid, and Cannoli absolutely adored her new 'big sister'. No doubt the child would be upset about Ichigo's leaving.

'_Don't think about that. This is all Kish's fault. He can make it up to her. There are people back on Earth who will miss me too.'_

"Are you done daydreaming?" Marmalade asked impatiently.

Ichigo blinked. "Huh? What?"

The spiky haired alien sighed. "There's your ticket home."

He nodded in the direction of what looked like a shop. For spaceships. Ichigo's face visibly dropped. They had places like this for spaceships like humans had for cars on Earth. She supposed it shouldn't have surprised her since they were further along technology wise. But how had she missed this place.

"Ok, so I'll take the ship home." She said. "But how am I going to fly it?"

He smirked. "That's the beauty of autopilot."

Autopilot, she should have figured that out. "But once I'm home, how will I get the ship back?"

Marmalade chuckled. "For someone who wants to go home so badly, you're thinking of a lot of detours." He sighed and shook his head. "It's a rental. I rented it out. The ship has a built in teleporter. Once the rental period is up, it will teleport right back here. So you don't need to worry about returning it. The controls are all set, the destination's logged in, all you have to do is press the start button."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. "Ok, I get it. Um, just one more question, can't we just teleport _me_ back to Earth?"

Marmalade shook his head. "We can only teleport a few miles, or else more of us would have gone to Earth. The ship's teleporter is a one way location, from wherever it is to back here, that's why it'll work over such long distances."

This was beginning to make Ichigo's head spin. "Uh, ok, I'll take your word for it."

She followed him up to the ship. It was twice the size of a bus, so at least she wouldn't be cramped. The controls were… _alien_ to her, but from the readout, Earth did seem to be the destination, and it was set on autopilot.

"So, it's all ready?"' she asked.

"One moment…" Marmalade replied, flipping a few switches and pressing a few buttons. "Now it's ready. Just press this button here, and you're off."

Ichigo gulped nervously. "Ok, simple enough… I think." She glanced worriedly at Marmalade. "I'm kind of worried about how Kish will react when he finds out I'm gone. He's going to be so mad."

Marmalade snickered. "Yeah, I know."

She shifted uncomfortably. "He'll probably come after me too. He really loves me, you know."

She froze the moment the words left her mouth. It took her several seconds to comprehend what she had just said.

_He really loves me._

_He really loves me._

_He really loves me._

Why did those words, her own words, affect her like that? She had known that he loved her, but perhaps she hadn't truly realized what exactly that meant until now.

'_He really loves me… My God, he's _in love_ with me.'_

Eyes clenched shut tightly, she covered her ears and shook her head. Of all times for her to truly comprehend the situation, it had to be now. When she left, Kish wouldn't just be angry, he'll be heartbroken. All this, everything he had done, was because he loved her. He gone so far, done terrible things, even betrayed his mission, his people for her. Heck, he'd stood up to Deep Blue, a _god,_ for her.

'_Stop it!'_ she shouted to herself. _'I'm going home and putting this behind me. Case closed!'_

A knock on her head caused her to come out of her thoughts.

"Anyone home in there?" Marmalade asked, knocking on Ichigo's head again. "You better get going."

Putting away such thoughts, she nodded. "Right, ok. Thanks again."

"Whatever." He muttered, and teleported away.

Ichigo took a deep breath and strapped herself in. This was it. Time to go home. All she had to do was push that button. Not so hard. But then why couldn't she bring herself to do it. Her hand must have hung over it for three minutes by now.

The sound of someone shouting caught her attention. She looked out the window and saw an angry looking alien running towards her.

"Uh oh." she muttered. "Busted. I better go now!"

Her fisted slammed down on the flashing red button. The ship began humming as it lifted off the ground. It hovered in the air for a moment, and then… it was off. Ichigo screamed as the ship sped up, up, up. It's destination, Earth.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Kish whistled happily as he made his way home. How should he tease his kitten today? Maybe he would _accidentally_ walk in on her bathing, and ask real slyly if he could join her. He could already see her cheeks turning red with embarrassment and anger.

Perhaps it was still too soon for that. Maybe he'll comment on how stressed she looked at adapting to his planet's ways and give her a massage. A _full_ body message. Not that he would tell her that.

Or maybe-

"Kish! Kish, there you are!"

Kish turned to see someone dressed as a mechanic running towards him. He didn't know who this guy was, but a lot of people he didn't know, i.e. everyone, knew him.

"Yes." He said, a little irritated that his daydream had been interrupted. "What can I do for you, my good sir?"

The alien caught up to him, sucking down air. "Your… mate… that girl… she's… she's…"

Kish rested his hands on the man's shoulders. "Whoa, calm down. Take a breath. Now what's the problem?"

The alien took a few deep breaths. "Your mate-to-be stole one of my ships!"

Whatever Kish had expected him to say, it wasn't that. "She what? That can't be. She doesn't know how to fly. It must have been someone else."

The mechanic shook his head. "Pink hair and a cat tail. Trust me, it was her. And she was flying just fine. A perfect take off."

Kish was shocked. But that shock soon turned to blinding fury. Ichigo, his kitten, his soon-to-be-mate, was running away from him. She was leaving, just like that. She was trying to escape. She actually thought she could get away from him.

The mechanic winced in pain as Kish's claws dug into his shoulders. "Ow, ow, Kish, you're, ow!"

"How dare she!" Kish growled. "How dare she leave me! Did she think I wouldn't go after her? Did she really think I would let her go?"

"Kish!" the mechanic shouted.

Kish blinked, coming back to himself. "What? Oh, I'm sorry." He released the mechanic. "Please, let me deal with this. I'll bring her and your ship back. You can count on it."

The mechanic shook his head. "No, sir, you don't understand. The ship she took is undergoing repairs. The engine is bad."

The color drained from Kish's face and his anger gave way to fear. "W-What?"

"It's not ready to undergo space travel yet. It'll burn up before it makes it out of the atmosphere!"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The whole ship was vibrating. Ichigo shook in her seat, wondering if this was normal. Was this natural?

"I-I-I-I th-th-ought-t i-it w-w-was s-up-possed-ed t-to b-be-e bump-ier en-enter-ing-ing the atmos-ph-phre!"

It certainly hadn't been this bumpy when she had been brought to Earth II. And it certainly hadn't been this hot.

'_Wonder if there's an air conditioner on this thing.'_

She looked at the controls. She had no idea what anything was. And she certainly couldn't open the window. So much for a bit of cool air.

Suddenly there was what sounded like a tire blowout. But the ship didn't have any tires. That meant that it was something else.

'_That can't be good.'_

Red lights began flashing, and a robotic female voice began chanting _Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger! Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!_

'_What'd I do? I didn't touch anything. Was I supposed to?'_

A smell hit her nose. Smoke! Something was burning. But what? What was happening? What was she going to do?

The heat was unbearable. She was sweating profoundly. Something had gone terribly wrong, and now it seemed as if the ship was burning.

'_I think this was a mistake.'_

Panicking, she began pressing buttons, pulling leavers, and flipping switches at random. Anything to undo whatever she did or didn't do.

Electricity shocked her finger. The control panel had sparks and bolts of electricity flowing over it. Screens cracked and buttons went flying off the panel as smoke began rising from it.

Ichigo jumped as a small explosion came from the control panel. It was now on fire! She screamed and unstrapped herself as she ran around trying to find a fire extinguisher or something else to put out the fire.

But the fire, as she discovered, wasn't only by the control panel. There were several small ones throughout the entire ship that she hadn't been aware of. But that was nothing. Looking out the window, she saw that most of the ship itself was on fire.

'_Oh my God, I'm gonna die!'_

This had most definitely not been a good idea. She certainly hadn't thought this through. It had seemed simple enough while she was safely on the ground.

The window cracked and she jumped back. If the glass broke, it was all over. She knew how space was like a vacuum, sucking out the air in a ship with even the smallest hole. When that happened, if she wasn't shredded to pieces by the shattered glass, she would die in space. And there were no spacesuits anywhere.

She backed away from the window. This was really it. She was going to die. She was either going to suffocate, burn, or blow up. Neither choice sounded appealing.

**(A/N: This certainly didn't turn out well. Did Marmalade set her up, or was this just an accident? Right now it seems like Marmalade deliberately tried to kill her, but don't be so sure. This situation will be looked at in a later chapter. First Kish has to rescue her. Unless it's someone else who comes to her rescue.)**


	10. Chapter 10: Rescued and Recaptured

**(A/N: WARNING! Things get kind of… mature in this chapter. The story is still rated **_**K+**_**, but this chapter has a **_**T**_** rating. Just wanted to give you all a heads up.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 10: Rescued and Recaptured**

"Hurry!" Kish shouted. "Hurry!"

"Screaming in my ear is not helping." Pie muttered calmly. "And I'm surprised you didn't see this coming. Did you really think she wouldn't try to escape?"

"She shouldn't have! I would have given her anything, done anything! But I can't let her go! And now I may lose her forever! So just keep going."

Pie sighed. "This is the ship's top speed. And if you would look at the radar, you would see that we are approaching a ship."

Kish pressed himself against the glass. He didn't see a ship, but what he did see was what looked like a flame floating in the sky. Kish felt his stomach dropped as he realized it was the ship Ichigo was on. It looked ready to blow at any moment.

"Ichigo!" he shouted. Pie suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Kish glared at him angrily. "What the hell?"

"Forget it." Pie told him. "It's too late. It's going to blow. You can't save her."

With a growl, Kish pulled away. "Watch me!"

"You'll die too!"

"Then I'll see you in Hell!"

And he teleported away before Pie could stop him.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

This was it. She was going to die. The ship was literally falling apart around her. Currently, she was buried underneath some part of the ceiling that had fallen on her. She was trapped, unable to move. There was smoke everywhere, the place was burning. She was as good as dead.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, not knowing who she was apologizing to as tears running down her eyes. "I'm sorry."

She closed here eyes, waiting for the end to come. There was no use denying it. She had been dead the moment she stepped on the ship. It was all over. Good bye Earth. Goodbye Earth II. Goodbye Kish, Cannoli, Pie, Tart, Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, Zakuro, Berry, Masaya, everyone. Part cat or not, she didn't have nine lives to spare. She was going to that big litter box in the sky.

'_No!'_ she thought. _'No! I don't want to die! I'm not read! I'm not ready yet! There has to be some way out of this!'_ That's when she began screaming. "HELP ME! KISH, GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE, KISH, SAVE ME!"

"Ichigo!"

Her eyes snapped open. "Kish?" She didn't expect to actually have him reply. Was she just hearing things?

"Ichigo, where are you?"

No, she wasn't hearing things. Kish was calling for her. He was here on the ship!

"Kish! Kish, I'm over here!"

Through the smoke and flames, the green haired alien appeared. His eyes widened with horror when he saw Ichigo trapped.

"Ichigo, hang on, I'll get you out!"

He grabbed the piece of the ceiling that fell on her and immediately let go, gasping in pain. It was so hot that his hands were already beginning to blister. Ichigo was fortunate enough to have her clothes separating her skin from the hot metal.

"Damn it!" he growled.

He grabbed the large piece of hot metal again and tried lifting, ignoring the burning pain. But the piece of fallen ceiling was too big and too heavy to lift.

"Damn it, move, you bastard!" he shouted.

The ship shook violently, falling apart even more. Ichigo looked around worriedly. The ship was seconds away from exploding, and it didn't look like Kish could lift this off her. She couldn't let him die with her, _because_ of her.

"Kish, listen to me," she said, "just go. This is my fault. I'm the reason why I'm in this situation. The ship's going to blow soon. Hurry up and get away."

Kish didn't even look at her. "What the hell are you saying? I'm not leaving unless it's with you."

"Kish, don't be an idiot! Do you want to die? Just get out of here. I don't want you to die because of me."

"Then you shouldn't have tried to leave in the first place. Now shut up and let me save you!"

"You'll die!"

"Then I'll die with you!"

He wasn't leaving, she realized. He was really ready to die trying to save her. But no, she couldn't allow that.

"You have people that need you." she cried. "Think about Cannoli. She can't lose you. She needs you. You're all she has left."

"It won't matter." He growled. "I wouldn't be any use to her if I lost you. Don't you get it?" He glared at her angrily. "I can't go on without you! Without you, my life has no meaning!"

He cried out loudly and the ceiling Ichigo was trapped under shifted slightly, just enough for her to scurry out. Once she was clear, Kish dropped the ceiling, his hands red and burned from the heat. He paid them no mind, turning to Ichigo.

"Grab hold of me!" he shouted, wrapping his arms around her.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Pie's eyes widened the moment he realized it was going to happen. The burning ship was going to blow. The moment he thought it, the ship exploded in a cloud of fire and smoke. His own ship went spinning out of control from the force of the explosion.

Gripping the controls tightly, he steadied the ship. Looking out the window in horror, he saw the remains of the other ship flying around.

"Kish…" he whispered, his eyes wide with horror. "Ichigo…"

A groan distracted him and he turned to see the two of them on the floor, Kish holding Ichigo tightly.

'_They made it.'_ he realized, breathing a sigh of relief.

Ichigo opened her eyes, realizing that she and Kish weren't dead yet. "We… we made it." She gave Kish a grateful look. "You saved me, Kish. Thanks."

He let her go and gave her a furious look. "YOU DAMNED IDIOT!"

Ichigo jumped back, surprised. "Wha…"

"Just what the hell were you thinking?" he yelled. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You stole a ship, without having any idea of how to fly it, might I add! You nearly got us both killed! Just what was going on in that head of yours?"

Ichigo moved further away. He was scaring her a little bit. She hadn't seen him like this since they were enemies. "I was… just trying to get home."

"Trying to get home?" His eyes flashed angrily. "You're so desperate want to get away from me that you'd be willing to die? Do you really hate me that much?"

"I-I don't hate you, Kish. I just-"

He grabbed her roughly and shook her. "Get this through your head! You're mine! Got it? Mine! I'm never letting you go! Never, do you understand me?"

Pie cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, can you please save your lover's quarrel until you're alone. And Ichigo, you better think of a way to explain yourself for stealing that ship."

"Stealing?" Ichigo repeated. "I wasn't stealing it. Someone rented it for me and set the autopilot for Earth."

Pie raised an eyebrow. "Ok, and just how were you planning on returning it?"

Ichigo blinked. She would have thought that was obvious. "Isn't it supposed to teleport back to the owner once the rental period is over?"

"What damned idiot told you that?" Kish demanded.

Ichigo's eyes widened. What did he mean? Had Marmalade lied to her? Why? Why would he lie? He wouldn't try to… would he?

She shook her head. No, that was ridiculous. Why would Marmalade try to kill her? There was no motivation. It didn't make any sense.

"So who was it?" Kish growled. "Who said they rented that ship for you and readied the autopilot?"

Ichigo gulped. He was already angry, but he was going to be absolutely furious when she told him. "Um, Marmalade."

She was right. Kish's face twisted with fury and he slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to dent it.

"You're paying for that." Pie muttered in a bored voice.

Kish ignored him. "Damn it. You go with him of all people! Son of a bitch!"

He hit the wall again, making another dent.

"You're paying for that one too." said Pie.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

They landed back on Earth II. Aliens gathered around to make sure they were all right. They breathed sighs of relief when Pie, Kish, and Ichigo exited the ship; Kish keeping a tight hold on Ichigo's arm.

"Thank the stars you're all right." said an alien.

Tart tsked and shook his head. "Old lady, you're more trouble than you're worth."

Kish dragged Ichigo over to the alien mechanic and bowed to him. "I'm very sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you're ship didn't make it. I'll take full responsibility and reimburse you."

The mechanic waved it off. "I'm just glad you're all right. Please, do not trouble yourself over the ship. After all, it's thanks to you that we're all still alive, Kish the Brave."

Kish bowed again. "I thank you, kind sir. And don't worry, I shall see to it that she is punished."

Ichigo blinked. "Punished?"

He glared at her. "That's right, punished. It's time you were taught a lesson."

He pulled her along, heading towards home. He stopped for a moment when he caught sight of a certain alien. His gaze locked with Marmalade's, and the two stared at each other for a moment before he pulled Ichigo along.

Once they reached Kish's house, Kish angrily slammed the door shut behind them. Cannoli came into the room, glad to see them both and completely oblivious to what had just occurred.

"Big brother Kish, big sister Ichigo!" she cried happily.

Her happy face vanished when Kish glared at her. "Go to your room! Don't come out until I say!"

Cannoli's frowned. "Why? What'd I do?"

"Just go!"

With a squeak, Cannoli ran off, slamming the door once she was in her room. Kish didn't seem to care that he upset her as he dragged Ichigo into their room, kicking the door shut and throwing Ichigo onto the bed.

"That was mean." She scolded. "You didn't have to take you're anger out on your sister." But her anger at Kish's misdirected rage vanished when she saw him take his shirt off. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her question, fixing his angry gaze on her. "Take your clothes off."

Ichigo's mouth dropped open in shock. "What?"

"I said take your clothes off! Do it now, or I'll do it!"

She hugged herself. "No, you pervert!"

Kish's eyes flashed angrily. "Fine!"

He tackled her and Ichigo found herself pinned down on the bed. Kish grabbed her head to hold her still and kissed her roughly. Ichigo screamed into his mouth, trying to get free.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as he trailed kisses down her neck. "Let me up!"

"No." he growled. "It's time you learned who you belong to. I'm done waiting, Ichigo. I'm going to make you mine, whether you want me to or not."

"NO!" she cried, and began hitting him. "Stop it, Kish! Let me up!"

He grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head. "Stop moving." He growled, and kissed her again.

Ichigo bit his lip and he pulled away, looking into her fearful red eyes with his angry yellow ones. He transferred her left wrist into his other hand and reached for her top. He tore her shirt open and off her body, exposing her to him. Ichigo cried out, wanting desperately to hide her breasts from him, but was unable to pull out of his grip.

With a smirk, Kish pressed his bare chest against hers. "How's that feel, kitten? Are you enjoying yourself?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, continuing to struggle. "Kish, you can't do this. The elder said you couldn't take me as your mate for two months."

He grinned evilly at her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to mark you. But I can still make love to you."

"This isn't making love!" she shouted. "This is rape!"

"Shut up and enjoy it. I'm going to make you mine."

He began trailing kisses down her chest. Ichigo continue to struggle, but soon realized that it was no use. He was much stronger than her. She was completely at his mercy. She stopped struggling and let her body go limp, staring up at the ceiling.

Kish continued his ministrations on her body. He eventually realized that she had stopped fighting and released her wrists as he became less rough. He kissed his way back up her body until he reached her lips, kissing her hard.

She was unresponsive.

Kish broke the kiss, looking down at her. She was staring straight up with a blank expression on her face. Tears ran down her eyes, but she didn't say anything, made no noise, didn't move at all.

His eyes narrowed and he kissed her roughly again, trying to get a response from her. "Kiss me back!" he demanded.

She gave no indication that she heard him at all. If it weren't for her breathing, one might think she was dead.

Kish's fists clenched and he glared at her angrily. "Don't just lay there and do nothing! Why don't you fight back?"

Still nothing. It only infuriated him further and he kissed her roughly again. Still she remained unresponsive, unmoving. It was more than he could stand, and he gave her a furious look, gripping her chin tightly to make her look at him.

"Why won't you do anything?" he demanded. "Why don't you resist me?"

She didn't answer. She just continued crying silently, not moving.

A drop of water fell and landed on her face. Confused, Kish reached up to find that the drop of water had been a tear. His own tear. When had he started crying? Why was he crying?

"Ichigo…" he murmured, his voice no longer angry, but sad and desperate. "Don't do this. Don't shut me out. Do something. Fight me, respond to me, yell at me. Come on, cry, beg, scream, hit me, plead with me, curse at me. I don't care, what you do, just don't shut me out. Don't ignore me. Ichigo!"

If she heard him, she gave no indication of it. It was more than Kish could bear. The tears began flowing freely down his cheeks. With a sob, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and wept.

"I'm sorry." he said, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry. Please don't do this to me, Ichigo. I can't stand it. I can't bear to lose you. Please, I'm so sorry, kitten. For everything. But I need you. I need you so much. I just can't let you go."

As he continued to weep against her, Ichigo seemed to come back to herself. She glanced at Kish as he cried against her, holding her desperately, as if she would disappear if he let go. She wasn't sure how long they laid there with him crying on top of her, but eventually his sobs subsided and he soon fell asleep, holding her tightly the whole time.

Slowly Ichigo's arms came up to wrap around him. She was rather embarrassed at being topless in front of him, and having him laying on top of her, but she just couldn't find the strength to move.

"It's ok, Kish." She whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. "I forgive you."

**(A/N: Hey, you asked to see Kish's crazy villainous side, and I gave it to you. Kish really isn't Mr. Prince Charming. He does have his dark side, as he's shown in this chapter. I'm actually rather proud with the way this chapter turned out, but you let me know how it was.)**


	11. Chapter 11: Apologies and Acceptance

**(A/N: Well, with the way the last chapter ended, I bet you're wondering how Ichigo and Kish are doing after he almost raped her. Well wait no more. Read on, my beloved fans.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 11: Apologies and Acceptance**

She was avoiding him. Not that he blamed her after what he did to her. Or, what he almost did to her. She seemed to be somewhat afraid of him. He didn't want that. He didn't want her to be afraid. He wanted her to accept his love and to love him in return.

_'Guess I blew that.'_ he thought.

And she wasn't the only one upset with him. After he had sent Cannoli to her room in his fit of anger the other day, he had completely0 forgotten about her. She had stayed in there all night and most of the next day before he had gone in her room to find her sitting in the corner, at which point she asked real sadly if her punishment was over.

But Kish's main concern was Ichigo. It was safe to say that whatever progress he had made with her had gone out the window and he would have to start from scratch.

_'It's her fault.'_ He fumed. _'She shouldn't have tried to leave me.'_

His thoughts turned to someone else who he would much rather put the blame on. That stupid jerk, Marmalade. Why did he have to interfere in his life? And what was up with that stupid story about a rental ship teleporting back to the owner when the rental period expired?

_'My kitten is so gullible.'_

He decided that Marmalade had been trying to get Ichigo into trouble for theft. That way, even when Kish did bring her back, she would still be punished for stealing a ship. The fact that the ship hadn't been fully repaired must have been a coincidence. Or it better have been. If Marmalade had tried to deliberately hurt Ichigo, he would kill him.

_'I better not find him near my kitten again.'_

Speaking of his kitten, he looked up as he saw her enter the room. She tensed up when she saw him and turned away, walking like a robot as she left the room.

Kish growled irritably. He hated it when Ichigo was like this. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, and do a whole lot more. But that wasn't going to happen if she kept this up.

He angrily got up and stormed after her. She hadn't gotten far before he caught up with her. She gasped as he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Kish, what-"

She was cut off as he slammed his lips against hers. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. She made a muffled noise and struggled to get away. He held onto her tightly, keeping a hold on her head so she couldn't pull away as he continued his assault on her mouth.

One of her hands tangled in his hair, and for a moment he thought she was responding. But then she yanked, pulling his head away from hers.

"What are you doing?" she demanded angrily.

He growled softly. "This!" he replied.

He moved to kiss her again, but her hand came up between his mouth and hers. "You have a lot of nerve! Don't you remember what you almost did yesterday?"

His eyes narrowed. He was not going to let her use that as an excuse not to let him touch her. "I just want to make you feel good. Why must you constantly fight me? When will you accept that you belong to me?"

She slapped him. "I belong to no one. When are _you_ going to accept that?"

He growled at her. She _did_ belong to him. She would learn that soon enough. He would have to teach her.

He grabbed hold of her and looked at her with fire in his eyes that held a promise. Ichigo suddenly felt nervous as she was reminded of how he had behaved yesterday. He wasn't going to try anything again, was he?

_Ding, dong!_

Both their heads snapped towards the door. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief while Kish growled irritably. Of all times for some to stop by.

"Coming!" Ichigo shouted loud enough for whoever was there to hear. Now Kish would have o let her go.

And he did, quite reluctantly. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched her answer the door.

"Hello." She said, opening the door. She immediately scowled. "Oh, it's you."

Marmalade cocked his head to the side. "Guess you're still angry."

"You almost got me killed!" she shouted, the fur on her cat-tail standing on end.

"I was just trying to help." He told her. "I wouldn't try to kill you. Why would I want to kill the only other person who doesn't worship the ground Kish walks on?"

Ichigo continued to glare at him. No, she didn't think he had tried to purposely kill her, but she was still angry.

"You lied to me." she accused. "You said the ship was a rental and it would go back when time was up."

Marmalade snickered. "That's not exactly what I said, but yeah. I didn't know if you would believe me though. You're easy to trick, aren't you?"

Ichigo turned a shade of red. "D-Don't try and change the subject. Why'd you lie?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Would you have taken it if I told you it would be stolen?"

"Of course not! It's wrong!"

He nodded. "My point exactly. And what Kish did you wasn't exactly the right thing to do either."

Kish growled as he continued to eavesdrop. He didn't like how close Marmalade was to _his_ Ichigo. Talking was bad enough, but if he so much as touched her.

"Regardless of that," Ichigo told him, "I'm not a thief. I'm not going to do anything illegal."

"You could be here a while then."

Ichigo sighed. "Yes, I know. But I'll manage. Kish isn't so bad. He's really nice when he wants to be."

That made Kish smile. His kitten was defending him!

Marmalade seemed to think otherwise. "If you say so. Just remember what will happen once two months have passed."

Ichigo gulped nervously. Yes, she knew. Kish would take her as his mate whether she wanted him to or not. And she knew that when that time came, he wouldn't stop, no matter what.

Marmalade seemed to sense Ichigo's uneasiness about the situation. "I really like you, Ichigo. You intrigue me." He reached out and stroked her hair. "I wouldn't want Kish to ruin you."

That was all the green-haired alien could stand. He stepped out from behind the corner and pulled Ichigo away from Marmalade.

"Don't you touch her!" he seethed. "Ichigo is mine! You keep your filthy hands off of her!"

Marmalade grinned at him. "You have no claim over her yet. I can touch her all I want."

"Excuse me?" Ichigo snapped.

Marmalade gave her an apologetic look. "With her permission of course. We can be friends, can't we?"

Before Ichigo could answer, Kish spoke up. "After you nearly got her killed? Hell no!"

An irritated look crossed over Marmalade's face. "I came here to apologize and make up with her, not you. I'm sure she can speak for herself."

Ichigo forced Kish's hands off her. "Apology accepted. I'm still angry, but thanks for trying to help me."

Marmalade smiled and winked at her. "Thank you. I'll see you later, my little strawberry."

Kish's eyes flashed angrily. "Why'd you just call her?"

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "Strawberry. That's what Ichigo means, right? It's Japanese for strawberry. So she's my little strawberry." He grinned. "Or I can call her kitten."

Kish took a threatening step forward. "Only _I_ can call her kitten!" he shouted, then slammed the door in Marmalade's face.

Ichigo sighed and shook her head. She turned to go find Cannoli, who was still upset about being kept in her room for so long, but suddenly Kish's arms wrapped around her from behind. He was holding her in a very possessive manner. She expected him to start groping her or to begin running kissing on her neck like he usually did. But surprisingly he didn't. Instead he just held her safe and secure in his arms.

"Um, Kish… what are you doing?"

"Shh…" he shushed her quietly. "Just let me hold you for a while."

Ichigo sighed and let him hold her as she leaned back into him. It was times like this, when Kish was so loving and caring, that she began to feel bad for the way she had treated him in the past. These moments showed how much he truly loved her.

"He can't have you." Kish said suddenly.

Ichigo blinked. "Huh? Who?"

"Marmalade. He wants you. He wants to take you away from me, just so he can upset me. Just so he can have what I want. But I won't let him. I won't let anyone take you away. Not him, not Masaya, not your teammates, no one." He nuzzled her softly. "You're mine, and mine alone."

Ichigo frowned. His affection was nice, but did he have to be so possessive? She could do without that.

"You can't force someone to love you." she said quietly.

He held her tighter. "Am I really so bad? Do you think that you can't find happiness with me?" He turned her around to face him. "I love you. I would do anything to make you happy. I need you with me, Ichigo. But you won't even give me a chance. You don't even consider me as a possible candidate. Why is that? Is it because I'm an alien? Because technically I'm an earthling too."

Ichigo looked away. "No, that's not what's bothering me."

"Then what is it? Am I unattractive to you? Is it my green hair, my big ears? Is it because I have fangs, or because my eyes are yellow?"

"N-No. I think your very attrac…" She trailed off and blushed as she realized what she was about to say. "I don't find you unattractive."

"Then what is it?" he demanded. "Damn it, Ichigo, tell me what's so wrong about me that there can't be anything between us!"

She looked up at him again. "You kidnapped me, Kish. You took me away from everything I loved and brought me to a place that's so different, with no say in the matter. Then you changed me into a different species. And now you're keeping me prisoner and trying to forcibly take my love."

He gently stroked her hair. "Kitten, you're not a prisoner here. You can go anywhere you want. I'll give you anything you want. I'll-"

"You can say whatever you want, but the fact remains that I'm still a prisoner."

Kish's eyes narrowed angrily. "Would you ever have even given a single thought to us being together if I hadn't?"

Ichigo looked away. She didn't answer him. She didn't have to. They both knew the answer.

"All you ever saw was that stupid Masaya person. To you I was nothing but an enemy and a stalker. Even when I loved you more than that damned human ever could." He cupped her cheek. "Just give me a chance, Ichigo. That's all I ask. Just a chance."

Ichigo looked at him again. He was right, she never had even considered the possibility of the two of them being together. She'd always dismissed his feelings, even when she knew they were genuine. And maybe it would be worth it in the end. Was a chance really so much to ask for?

Ichigo sighed in defeat. "Fine, Kish. I'll give you a chance. One chance."

He smiled. "One chance is all I'm asking for. And it's all I'll need."

Noting that his playful behavior was back, Ichigo rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."

She attempted to pull away, but Kish wouldn't let her go. She gave him a questioning look and he grinned down at her.

"Kiss me." he said.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What? No!"

He just chuckled and pulled her closer. "Ah, ah, ah. You just said that you would give me a chance. That means accepting my affections. Unless of course you were lying." He cut his eyes at her in a playful manner. "If you were lying, I'll have to punish you. Do you want me to give you a spanking?" She shook her head. "Then close your eyes and pucker up."

Ichigo pouted slightly, but as Kish continued to give her that look, she finally gave in, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. She expected him to take advantage of the situation and kiss her roughly and passionately like he normally did. She tensed up, waiting for it, but he surprised her. Instead his lips gently pressed against hers as he gave her a tender and loving kiss. It was very unexpected of him to show his affection like this when normally he was so passionate and demanding.

When he finally broke the kiss, he looked down at Ichigo. She was still frozen with her eyes closed and her lips puckered. But after a few seconds, she seemed to realize that the kiss had ended and opened her eyes to see Kish grinning down at her.

"That'll do for now." he said, and teleported away.

Ichigo was left standing in the hall. She had expected one of Kish's fiery kisses, but didn't get one. As nice as it had been to be kissed so lovingly, she found herself feeling… disappointed. She was disappointed because she hadn't felt the fiery passion she knew that Kish could provide? That just couldn't be.

_'What in the hell did I just get myself into?'_

**(A/N: Kish provides a very good argument. Did Ichigo just make a huge mistake? Wait and see how their relationship progresses from here.)**


	12. Chapter 12: The Challenge

**(A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I had mid-terms this week. Between all the studying and testing, I was completely burned out. But it's over now, and the next chapter is ready. One of my past characters will be making an appearance in this chapter. Hope you like it.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 12: The Challenge**

Kish was very happy with the way things were going. Ichigo had been honest when she said that she would give him a chance. A great deal of progress had been made. She accepted his affections without complaint, unless, of course, he was being a little _too_ naughty. There had even been a few times when she had initiated a kiss, which he was quick to take advantage of, turning it into a make out session. Yes, at this rate, everything would work out perfectly. She would become his mate, and they would live happily together. Everything was perfect.

Well, almost perfect. There was the irritating fact that Ichigo and Marmalade were friends. It irritated Kish to no end seeing them together. He knew that Ichigo saw their friendship as completely platonic, but he knew that Marmalade had other intentions. And not romantic ones either. No, he was using Ichigo to get to him. The sneers and glares the spiky-haired alien threw at him when Ichigo wasn't looking was enough to tell him that.

But still, Kish wouldn't tell Ichigo who she could or couldn't be friends with. He didn't want Ichigo to think of herself as his prisoner. Even if, technically, that's what she was. Aside from leaving him, he had decided that he would allow her to do what she wanted.

But he did not trust Marmalade. And that's why he was currently following them, keeping out of sight. He trusted Ichigo, but she was incredibly naïve. She didn't know what Marmalade was capable of. So he was standing by, ready to jump in if Marmalade tried anything on his kitten.

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Marmalade smirked. Kish was following them again. The guy didn't trust him in the least. But Marmalade didn't care. He had Ichigo's trust, and that's all that mattered. And it wouldn't be long before he had Ichigo completely. That would destroy Kish, and he couldn't wait to see it.

"What are you smiling about?" Ichigo asked.

Marmalade's gaze shifted to her. "Just thinking about things."

Ichigo cocked her head to the side. "Like what?"

He chuckled and tapped her forehead. "Are all you humans always so curious?"

His ears picked up the low growl that Kish had emitted from his hiding place. He knew that he hated it when he toughed Ichigo, so Marmalade made sure to do it as much as possible without making Ichigo suspicious of his intentions.

And Ichigo was indeed clueless. She thought this to be nothing more than spending time with a friend. Any thoughts of a hidden motive were absent in her mind.

However, she would have to be a complete fool not to notice the hostility between Kish and Marmalade. She could have been blind and still would noticed it. She still wasn't completely sure what their problem was. From what she could gather, aside from the _misunderstanding_ of her escape attempt, both of them had been candidates for the mission to save their planet. Kish had won, and Marmalade had held a grudge ever since then.

She also knew that Kish was incredibly jealous of the time she and Marmalade spent together. Therefore, she had come up with a plan that she was attempting to put into action today. Perhaps if Marmalade had a girlfriend of his own, Kish wouldn't be so jealous and the hostility between the two would lessen. That'd be nice. She didn't like her friend and her boyfriend fighting.

'_Wait, what?'_ she thought blushing. _'Since when have I considered Kish my boyfriend?'_

She shook her head, trying to dispel such thoughts. Kish was _not_ her boyfriend. He was her… her…

'_What are we?'_ she wondered.

They were clearly more than just friends. Friends did not do the kinds of things they did. Her thoughts turned to what had happened this morning. Kish had gotten irritated when he found out that she was going to meet up with Marmalade. Before she had left, he had grabbed her roughly and told her not to forget that she belonged to him, right before he kissed her long and hard. And she had kissed him back.

Ichigo blushed. Kish had been on her mind far too much lately. Whether she liked it or not, she had to admit that there was something going on between them. If there wasn't, she wouldn't enjoy spending so much time with him, she wouldn't crave his touch, she wouldn't hunger for his kisses, she wouldn't-

"What are you thinking about?" Marmalade asked her.

She jumped. "Huh?"

"You're blushing, so you must be thinking about something either really embarrassing or something that you find very appealing." He gave her a mischievous grin. "Or maybe it's because you're in my presence."

She gave him a light shove. She found his, what she believed to be, pretend flirting amusing, but whenever he did it while Kish was around, it always enraged the green-haired alien.

"You think too highly of yourself." She told him.

"Or perhaps you think too little of me."

Ichigo rolled her eyes. Marmalade's biggest problem was that he was far too arrogant. He thought he was better than everyone else. A major fault in his personality. She just hoped that it wouldn't interfere with her plan.

Speaking of which, in order for her plan to work, she needed everyone present. She was currently short one person. She still needed-

The sound of someone teleporting made her jump. "Hello!" cried the newcomer. "Sorry I'm late. Mother was giving me this whole speech on… Ichigo, why are you on the floor?"

Having tripped over her own feet, Ichigo looked up bashfully. "Well, you scared me."

Yogurt chuckled. "You're so jumpy. Learn to relax a bit."

"People didn't teleport when I was on Earth. I'm not used to it."

Yogurt sighed and shook her head. "Oh, Ichigo. What am I going to do with you?" That's when she noticed Marmalade and her smile vanished. "Oh, hi, Marmalade."

The spiky-haired alien nodded back in acknowledgement. "Yogurt."

"Why are you here?"

Marmalade reached down and pulled Ichigo to her feet, wrapping an arm around her. "Just spending some quality time with my little strawberry here."

Yogurt crossed her arms. "Well you better not get too friendly with her or Kish will beat you senseless."

Ichigo was looking back and forth between the two. "Wait, you guys know each other already?"

Yogurt snorted. "Unfortunately. Mr. I'm-So-Much-Better-Than-Everyone-Else here attended flying school with me."

Ichigo blinked. "Um… flying school?"

"Where we learned to fly spaceships." Marmalade explained.

Ichigo nodded her head in understanding. "Ah." She tapped her chin. "I wonder if I can get flying lessons."

Yogurt giggled. "Kish might not like that. You could fly away from him."

Ichigo sighed. "He'll just come after me."

Yogurt nodded. "True. But enough about that. Where's this handsome stud you said you were going to hook me up with?"

Ichigo suddenly sweat-dropped. Apparently, her little plan of playing Cupid had a very big problem. "Well… um…" She glanced at Marmalade. "You see…"

Yogurt's eyes suddenly widened in understanding. "Oh, Ichigo, no. You weren't referring to… _him_, were you?"

Ichigo smiled nervously. "The thought… had crossed my mind."

Yogurt made a disgusted face. "GROSS!"

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "I do not find you all that appealing either. You're too…" his eyes roamed over her, "common."

Yogurt's eyes flashed angrily. "Well excuse me for being normal. You haven't changed at all. You're still an arrogant jerk." She glanced at Ichigo. "Thanks for thinking of me, but _no_ thank you. There is no way I'm going out with this creep. Personally, I don't know how you can stand him. The guy's ego is bigger than the planet." She flipped her hair back. "Come find me when you've had enough of his superiority complex."

And then she teleported away.

Ichigo sighed. _'Well, that was a complete loss.' _Her little matchmaker scheme had ended before it even began. And she was so looking forward to it too. _'It's my fault. I should have researched their backgrounds a bit.'_

Marmalade was watching her curiously. "Handsome stud, huh?"

"Uh…" Ichigo looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You were attempting to get Yogurt and me together."

Ichigo gave him a shy grin. "Guilty."

Marmalade shook his head. "Don't do that."

She frowned. "I just wanted to help."

"I have a very specific taste in women. I will wait to find one worthy of my affections."

Ichigo felt a twinge of irritation. This was the side of Marmalade she didn't like. The guy's ego really was way to big. "That's very stuck-up of you. You shouldn't be with someone because they're worthy of your affections. It should be because you care about them." She studied him for a moment. "What type of girl do you like?"

He turned to her. "Well, for one thing, they have to be able to hold my interest." He grinned at her. "And personally, I find you very interesting, Ichigo. You intrigue me to no end."

"Marm!" she cried. "I'm being serious here. Must you always-"

He suddenly kissed her. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. This was the last thing she would have expected. Had he been serious with his flirting all this time?

Before she could even react, there was an angry cry and Marmalade was pulled off her.

"BASTARD! I KNEW YOU COULDN'T BE TRUSTED!"

Ichigo blinked. "Kish? What are you doing here?"

He grabbed her and pulled her against him. "Making sure this creep keeps his filthy hands off what is mine." He glared at Marmalade. "You are _never_ to touch her."

Marmalade just smirked. "I think that's for her to decide. You have no claim over her."

Kish's eyes flashed angrily. "I am her intended!"

Marmalade's grin grew wider and he moved closer. "That can be changed." He pointed at him. "I challenge you, Kish. We'll have a match to see who's the better warrior."

Kish glared at him. "We already fought. Remember, I kicked your ass and was chosen for the mission to save the planet."

"A rematch then." Marmalade challenged. His gaze shifted to Ichigo. "With your little kitten as the prize."

"WHAT?" both Ichigo and Kish cried.

"That's right. The winner gets Ichigo."

Kish's grip on her tightened. "No way. You can forget it. I would never bet Ichigo for anything. Never."

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "Not even to save her life?" At Kish's confused look, he smirked. "I know you're secret, Kish. Rather interesting how things turned out. Of all the girls you could have as your mate, you've chosen the leader of the Mew Mews. I wonder how everyone else will react when they find out."

Kish was glaring daggers at him. "You bastard."

Marmalade chuckled. "It's your call. Do you want her, or do you want her in chains. You may end up imprisoned too for treason." His grin widened. "But if you manage to beat me, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Kish looked ready to kill him. "And you will stay out of our lives."

Marmalade shrugged. "Deal."

"Hey!" Ichigo cried. "Do I get a say in any of this?"

The two aliens ignored her. "Tomorrow then." Said Marmalade. "You and me. One last battle."

Kish glared at him. "Looking forward to it."

With one last cocky grin, Marmalade teleported away.

'_That does it!'_ Ichigo thought angrily. _'Human, alien, it doesn't matter! All men are jerks!'_

**(A/N: Looks like trouble. Ichigo is now the prize in a battle between Kish and Marmalade. Poor thing, she's basically being manhandled, which brought on her last thought in this chapter. Once again, sorry for the long wait. Hope I made it up to you all.)**


	13. Chapter 13: Fighting For Love

**(A/N: Took a little longer than I thought, but here's the next chapter.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 13: Fighting For Love**

"Kish, you're such a big jerk!" Ichigo shouted, pummeling him with her fists. "I can't believe you bet me! You actually _bet_ me!"

Kish held up his hands defensively. "Aw, kitten, don't be angry. I'm just doing what needs to be done."

Ichigo's eyes flashed furiously. "Doing what needs to be done? I'm not some item that you can just… just…" Her face was turning red with anger. "I'm not an inanimate object. I get a say in what does or does not happen to me. How can you treat me like some sort of possession?"

Kish shrugged. "It's the only way to get that creep out of our lives."

"You're the creep!" Ichigo shouted. "You claim that you love me, then you place a bet on me. That's not love. You don't love me. You only-"

Kish grabbed her, all signs of playfulness gone. Then he kissed her hard. Ichigo struggled, but he held her tightly, not letting go until she calmed down. Slowly Ichigo's struggles ceased, until she finally melted in his arms. Only then did Kish break the kiss and caressed her cheek affectionately.

"I do love you, kitten." He told her seriously. "Never doubt that. But I know how Marmalade is. He wants what's most dear to me, and won't settle for anything less. He deliberately brought on this situation. He would have kept pestering us until I agreed. And now that he knows your secret, he's leaving me with no choice. So I accepted his challenge to get it done and over with."

Ichigo crossed her arms. "And risk losing me? What happens if you lose?"

Kish shook his head. "I won't lose. You can be sure of that."

Ichigo resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That stupid arrogant male ego was very annoying. "Lets just say you do, and he ends up winning me. What are you going to do then?"

Kish stared at her for a moment before pulling her into a hug and holding her tightly. "If that happens, I will do everything in my power to get you back. I will bet anything, risk anything for a chance to get you back, and I will try until I do. I don't care if I have to get down on my knees, lick his boots, and beg in front of everyone, but I will get you back."

Ichigo stared at him in surprise. He would do that for her? She knew he was serious too, and he was a very proud person. Such an act would be very hard for him. But she didn't want him to embarrass himself like that.

She reached up and pulled his head down, kissing him, much to Kish's delight. "Kish," she said seriously, "don't you dare lose."

Kish raised an eyebrow and then grinned at her mischievously. "I expect a prize when I win. And by prize I mean you."

Ichigo stared at him for a moment. Then she placed her foot behind him and pushed so he fell backwards. "Kish, you jerk! Why do you have to ruin everything?"

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Kish entered the arena, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. Marmalade stood at the other end of the arena with his arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face. It irritated Kish to no end. But he knew that this wouldn't stop until he put Marmalade in his place once and for all.

'_I won't lose Ichigo.'_ He silently vowed.

Marmalade grinned at his rival. "Glad you didn't back out."

Kish glared at him. "Lets just get this over with. I'm sick of this stupid rivalry between us."

Ichigo watched nervously from the sidelines beside Tart and Pie. "So how does this work anyway?"

Pie raised an eyebrow. "Is it not obvious? They fight until either one gives up, is knocked unconscious, falls out of the ring, or is killed."

Ichigo's head snapped in his direction. "What? Killed?"

Tart snickered. "Don't worry, it's never come to that; it's just the rules." He cocked his head to the side, looking at the two contestants. "Although this may be the first time. Both are incredibly stubborn and refuse to give up." He shivered. "Their last fight was… pretty bad."

"They've fought before?"

Pie sighed impatiently. "Yes, and Kish won that time. That's why he came to Earth with Tart and I. Had Marmalade won, he would have gone instead."

Tart nodded. "Making him a big hero, an honorable warrior, super famous, and all that other nonsense that he never stops blaming on Kish for stealing from him." He snorted. "He only cares about glory."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. She knew what those types of people were like, the kind that would step on anyone to get to the top.

'_Kish, please win.'_

Marmalade grinned. "Looks like your kitten is worried."

Kish glanced at Ichigo, which was a big mistake. Marmalade took advantage of the moment and flew at Kish, slamming his elbow in his face.

Ichigo gasped as Kish went flying backwards, and right out of the arena. But he never touched the ground. He hovered just a few feet above it before flying back into the ring and glaring at Marmalade.

"Should have expected cheap tricks from you." he growled. "You have no honor, yet you want everyone to respect and admire you. Don't you get it? You have to work towards and earn the respect of others."

With a growl, Marmalade flew towards him with his fists flying. Kish was quick to avoid the blows, flying backwards and blocking when he couldn't dodge.

"What's the matter? Did I hit a nerve?"

"Shut up!" Marmalade snapped. "You think you're so high and mighty just because you saved our planet. I could have done it too. There's nothing special about you."

"Never said there was." Kish pointed out. His fist slammed into Marmalade's jaw. "You're the one who has a superiority complex. You're the one who thinks he's better than anyone else."

He threw another punch, but Marmalade caught his fist. He smirked as he twisted Kish's hand back and then slammed his elbow on it. There was a loud crack as Kish's wrist broke, followed by his cry of pain.

"You like that?" Marmalade asked, delivering a powerful kick to Kish's stomach.

The pain in his stomach was nothing compared to the pain in his wrist. Kish's eyes watered at the agonizing pain. He didn't have time to recover though. Marmalade quickly teleported behind him and wrapped an arm around Kish's neck.

Kish gasped, his air supply was cut off. He reached up with his good hand to pry the arm off from around his neck, but Marmalade grabbed his arm, holding him in place as he choked him.

"Kish!" Ichigo shouted.

With practice, she had gotten better at flying, and she immediately took to the air, intending to help Kish. But Pie grabbed her tail and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" she yelled at him. "Kish needs my help."

Pie didn't release her. "If you assist him in any way, Kish will be disqualified."

Ichigo froze. "So… Marmalade would win?"

"Obviously." Tart muttered. "Geez, old hag, you're really slow."

Ichigo looked back up at Kish, praying he would get lose. _'Please, Kish. You just have to win. You can't give me away!'_

Up in the sky, Kish continued to struggle, but Marmalade refused to let him go. With a grin, he whispered in Kish's ear. "Just give it up, Kish. I don't want to hurt you. All I want is for you to submit to me, to accept that I'm your better in every way. Accept defeat."

'_And lose Ichigo? I'll die first.'_

Managing to turn his head slightly, he used one of the oldest methods of fighting. He bit Marmalade's arm.

"OW!" Marmalade cried, releasing him. "You bit me! You even broke the skin! Damn you!"

Kish whirled around. "No, damn you!"

He began punching with his left hand, since his right wrist was broken, and still hurting terribly. But he was right-handed, and his left hand couldn't pack quite as much punch. Not to mention that he could no longer block as well.

Marmalade teleported away from Kish's attacks, reappearing several feet away. "Can you even continue fighting with a broken wrist?"

Kish glared at him and then teleported just above him and kicked hard. Marmalade spun around in a very comical way as Kish's foot collided with his head. Then he teleported away as Kish kicked again. He reappeared behind him and grabbed him from behind in a body-lock, making sure to keep away from Kish's teeth. Kish cried out as Marmalade pulled his arms back and used his knee to push into his back. The body was not meant to bend that way, and it hurt.

"Do you like pain, Kish?" Marmalade asked. "Why don't you just quit?"

Kish clenched his teeth against the pain. "N-No…"

Marmalade growled irritably. "What are you fighting so hard for? Your honor, or that little whore?"

Kish's eyes snapped open, filled with fury. He slammed his head back, right into Marmalade's face. The spiky-haired alien released him and grabbed his bleeding nose. Kish spun around and grabbed Marmalade with his good hand.

"Don't you ever insult her like that again!" he shouted.

Then, with his bad hand, he delivered three powerful punches to Marmalade's gut. There was a small cracking noise as one of Marmalade's ribs cracked. But it caused Kish almost as much pain. Both aliens hovered in the air, grasping their injuries.

Marmalade glared at Kish. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he brought his hands together and slammed down on Kish. The green-haired alien went flying towards the ground, heading for the outside of the ring.

Ichigo's eyes widened fearfully when she saw that Kish was about to lose. "Kish, stop!" she shouted.

Her cry reached him, and Kish used all his power to stop his fall, freezing in mid-air, less than a foot off the ground. "Close call." He grunted, staring at the grass just under his nose.

"Your bitch is mine!" Marmalade shouted.

Kish disappeared just before Marmalade landed his kick. He reappeared behind Marmalade, who immediately teleported away as well.

"I told you," said Kish, whirling around, "don't ever insult her again!"

His fist went flying, once again being the right one to deliver the most powerful hit. His fist collided with Marmalade's face the moment he reappeared. Marmalade's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went down, collapsing on the ground.

Kish bit his lip to try and suppress the pain in his wrist. "Getting me while my back is turned." He glared down at Marmalade. "Predictable for you."

"Kish!" Ichigo cried, running over to him. "Are you ok? My God, look at your wrist."

He grinned at her. "It's nothing. Only broken."

"Yet you proceeded to use it." Pie muttered. He grabbed Kish's arm, looking at his broken wrist. "Looks like you broke it even more when you hit him."

Ichigo glanced at the unconscious Marmalade. "Will he be ok?"

Kish snorted, feeling irritated that Ichigo was showing Marmalade concerned. "He'll be fine."

Ichigo turned back to him. "What about you?"

He grinned. "Don't worry, kitten. Remember, we're more medically advanced than the humans. The doctor can completely heal this in a matter of hours." He gave her a mischievously look. "Now, how about a kiss for the winner?"

He expected to be slapped, or at least insulted. Instead, Ichigo grabbed him and kissed him hard. Kish's eyes widened in surprise, but he immediately wrapped his arms around her. It caused pain in his wrist and he winced.

Noticing his pain, Ichigo broke the kiss. "Come on, we're taking you to the doctor, or whatever you call your healer people here." She glanced at Pie. "I'll support Kish. Can you help Marmalade?"

Pie sighed. "If I must."

He scooped Marmalade up, none too gently. The pain in his ribs caused Marmalade to wake up with a groan. He looked confused for a moment, then he spotted Kish, who smirked at him.

"It's all over, Marm." He told the spiky-haired alien. "Now you're going to leave Ichigo and me alone. And you're going to keep her secret."

Marmalade growled. "Fine, I shall keep my promise." He glared at Kish as Ichigo led him away. _'But this isn't over yet, Kish. Mark my words, this isn't over yet.'_

**(A/N: I don't think the fight turned out as good as I hoped, but I'm satisfied with it. But this fight doesn't completely settle things between Kish and Marmlade. He'll keep Ichigo's secret, but he's still determine to get the honor and glory that Kish 'stole' from him.)**


	14. Chapter 14: Fever

**(A/N: I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry about that. This chapter is a little different than the other, but hopefully you'll enjoy it.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 14: Fever**

As Kish walked down the road, he thought back on recent events. There was something strange going on, and it centered around Ichigo. After his fight with Marmalade, things had returned to normal. But slowly Ichigo's attitude had begun to change. These past few days had been the worst of it.

No, it wasn't that time of the month for her. She wasn't being moody or anything. It was quite the opposite actually. She was being extra affectionate. He hadn't really noticed it at first, but it soon became clear that she wasn't acting like her usual self. Before, the most she had been doing was accepting his affections and occasionally giving him hugs and a few chaste kisses, which he was quick to take advantage of.

But this was different. She always wanted to be around him, and was very touchy-feely. On several occasions she began what she turned into full make-out sessions and was always reluctant to stop. She kept complaining about being hot and was having trouble sleeping at night. Which meant that he was too, especially since she had begun snuggling up next to him. More than once he had woken up in the morning to find her completely wrapped around him, purring happily. At times she was downright aggressive with him, leaving behind nail marks and painful love-bites. And her attitude had changed towards other women too. On a few occasions she would snap, and even hiss like a cat, at them when they were around him.

Not that Kish was complaining. He liked the affection she was showing him, but he wanted to know what brought on her sudden change. He had hoped that she had begun to fall for him, but this behavior couldn't be a result of it. He had seen how she was around that Masaya person, and she hadn't acted like this. In fact, this was the last kind of behavior he would expect from her.

He had his suspicions though, and he was currently on his way to see if his suspicions were accurate. Yes, he was on his way to Marmalade's house. So far the guy had kept his promise to stay out of his and Ichigo's life, but Kish still didn't trust him. The guy had tricked Ichigo into stealing a ship and almost getting her killed. He wouldn't put it past his rival to drug Ichigo or do something else just as devious.

Arriving at Marmalade's house, he pounded on the door. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the spiky-haired alien to open the door. And when he did, he looked very surprised to see Kish there.

"What do you want?" he growled.

Kish glared at him. "What did you do to Ichigo?"

Marmalade raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about? I haven't done anything to her."

Kish slammed his fist against the wall. "Don't lie! I know you, Marmalade. You despise me. You'll do anything to upset me, and you know that hurting Ichigo will piss me off more than anything. Now what'd you do to her to make her act this way?"

The spiky-haired alien chuckled. "As much as I'd like to take credit for whatever has you so peeved, I'm afraid I can't. Now, if you don't mind I have things to do."

He slammed the door in his face. He had no idea what Kish's problem was. He hadn't gone near Ichigo or done anything to her. He didn't even realize that Ichigo had been acting different.

He just shrugged. He didn't care; it was none of his concern. At least not now. For the moment he was staying out of their lives, but soon he would get everything he could ever want. Power, respect, honor, and, of course, Kish's downfall.

'_Worry about the small things for now, Kish.'_ He thought with a sneer. _'Soon you will lose everything.'_

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Kish returned home, pondering on what Marmalade had told him. He wasn't sure if he believed that Marmalade had nothing to do with Ichigo's change in behavior, but he had no proof. The guy had actually seemed surprised when Kish had confronted him, but he could have just been a really good actor.

The biggest flaw in Kish's suspicion was the same as the problem. He wanted Ichigo's love and affection, and she was clearly giving it to him beyond his expectations. So why would Marmalade make a change in Ichigo that he enjoyed?

He pushed the thought aside. He could care less about motives. He just wanted to know why his sweet and shy kitten had become a passionate and possessive tiger. He was concerned for her health. What if whatever made her act this way changed her some more, and in a bad way?

"KISH!"

The moment he entered the house and closed the door, Ichigo had come running into the room and tackled him. With the wind knocked out of him, Kish went down. Ichigo nuzzled into him, purring happily.

"I missed you." she said, placing kisses all over his face.

Kish wrapped his arms around her. "I was only gone for twenty minutes."

"Twenty-two minutes and ad forty-seven seconds." Ichigo told him. She looked up at him, her eyes shining. "I was watching the clock." She buried her face into the crook of his neck and breathed deeply. "You so smell nice."

Kish sweat-dropped. He still wasn't used to this change in her and wasn't sure how to react. Whenever he tried anything, he always felt like he was taking advantage of her since she wasn't in the right state of mind.

"You smell nice too." he told her.

She beamed happily. "Kiss me!"

Before he could react, her lips were on his in what seemed to be an attempt to eat his face. For the moment, Kish allowed himself to enjoy the moment and kissed her back. Ichigo made a happy mewing sound and held onto him even tighter.

"Big brother?"

He broke the kiss and Ichigo growled irritably. She glared at Cannoli, the fur on her tail standing on end. "Go away!"

Kish placed a finger over her lips. "Now, kitten, don't be mean."

A mischievous glint appeared in Ichigo's eyes and she took his finger into her mouth, sucking on it. Kish shivered and reluctantly pulled his finger back. He was not going to do this in front of his little sister.

Cannoli gave the two a bashful look. "B-Big brother, did you find out what's wrong with big sister?"

Kish sighed and stood up. Ichigo clung to him, hanging in the air before gravity pulled her and she slid down her his body, unwilling to let go.

Kish sighed. "No, not yet. But I'll find out what the problem is."

Ichigo whined. "There is no problem! I'm perfectly fine! I'm not sick or anything! Look." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her head. "See, I'm fine."

Kish's eyes widened. He pulled his hand away and gave her a fearful look. "Kitten, you've got a terrible fever! You're burning up!" It was then that he noticed that she had been blushing profoundly this whole time.

"No!" she whined childishly. "I'm fine." She fanned herself. "But it is a little hot in here."

Kish scooped her up. This was not normal. She was sick. He needed to get her some help, and fast.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

In the end, he had brought her to Pie's house. Having never seen a condition like this before, he assumed that it could have been a virus from Earth that had been incubating inside her body or something. As far as he knew, his kind were immune to all of Earth's diseases, so this must be affecting her human half. If this were the case, he couldn't bring her to the healers on his planet without exposing Ichigo's true origins.

He paced back and forth impatiently, waiting for Pie to finish his tests. Tart watched him with an irritated look on his face.

"Will you quit pacing; you're driving me crazy!"

Kish didn't even look at him. "I'm just worried about her."

Tart rolled his eyes. "The old hag will be fine. Quit worrying so much."

Kish felt himself beginning to lose his temper. "And what if your monkey-girl were really sick and you didn't know what was wrong with her? What would you do?"

Tart didn't reply. He merely looked away, but a blush was clearly staining his cheeks.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Pie entered the room. Kish hurried over to him and grabbed his shirt, shaking him. "Well, what's wrong with her? Is she all right? What's happening?"

Pie calmly removed Kish's hands. "She's perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with her."

Kish growled angrily. "Don't lie to me. She's not acting normal. Now tell me what's wrong with her."

The older alien was as calm as ever. "I never said she was acting normal, only that there was nothing wrong with her." He straightened out his shirt. "I'm not sure how to explain it to you, so I'll just come right out and say it." He sighed, looking like he was going to regret saying this. "She's in heat."

Silence was met by this statement. Kish stood dumbfounded as he stared at Pie. "I'm sorry, what?"

"She's in heat." Pie repeated. "Apparently it's something she inherited it from her cat genes." He turned away from him and went back to the project he had been working on before Kish had come bursting through his door carrying Ichigo. "It'll pass in a few days. She's just going to be very… affectionate for a while."

"Whoa!" Tart cried, covering his ears. "I do _not_ need to hear this!"

As he teleported away, Kish thought over this new discovery. Ichigo was in heat? This was unexpected, but it certainly explained a lot. Her extreme affection for him, the need to maintain contact, the sensitivity she had been feeling, her hot flashes, it all made sense now.

"So… she's going to be like this…"

"Every time she goes into heat?" Pie finished for him. "Most likely. Looks like this is your chance."

Kish raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Didn't you want to get her in bed?"

Kish ears perked up as an endless list of possibilities came to his mind. But he put those thoughts aside as something rather troubling came to mind.

"She's been quite… forward lately. What if she can't control herself around other men."

Pie didn't even look at him as he continued with his project. "She didn't react any differently to me or Tart. Or any other men for that matter. Seems like she's only reacting to you." He glanced over his shoulder and gave Kish a knowing smirk. "Just something to consider."

Kish's eyes widened. Without a nothing word, he hurried into the room where Ichigo was. She was openly pouting, but she immediately perked up when Kish entered the room.

"Oh, Kish!"

She rushed over to him and began snuggling into him, rubbing her face against him like a cat would. Kish smiled down at her and scratched behind her ears the way she liked; another thing she inherited from her cat genes.

"How you doing, kitten?"

She purred happily. "I'm good. Pie said there's nothing wrong with me, just like I said."

Kish resisted the urge to smile. "You were right. Lets get back. Cannoli is probably worried sick."

He turned to leave and Ichigo jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms and legs around him, hugging him tightly. "Carry me back!" she cried happily and began licking behind his ear.

Kish shivered. Desire for constant physical contact was one of the side affects of her… condition. But that's ok, he could live with that.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Kish cursed himself for not coming up with an excuse to tell Cannoli. Because there was no way in hell he was going to tell her that Ichigo was in heat, considering his sister even knew what that meant. So he ended up telling her that Ichigo had just caught a little cold, but was in no danger. He wasn't sure if Cannoli believed such a lame excuse. But he was not ready to have _that_ talk with his little sister.

Another thing he wasn't ready for was what he found when he entered his room that night after he put Cannoli to bed. His eyes practically popped out of his head when he found Ichigo sitting on his bed wearing only her bra and panties.

"I-Ichigo?"

A slight blush tinted her cheeks as she stared at him hungrily, her eyes wide with desire. "Hi, Kish. I waited for you."

Kish gulped. This was very forward of her. She was almost a completely different person. Not that he found the change unpleasant or anything.

"Um, Ichigo, what are you doing?"

She crawled to the end of the bed. "Nothing." She held up her arms. "I want a hug."

Kish sweat-dropped. If he took advantage of her while she was like this, she would kill him when she returned to her normal state of mind, that is, if she didn't die of embarrassment first.

'_I could pretend not to know why she's acting this way.'_ He considered.

"Kish!"

Ichigo got impatient and jumped off the bed and onto him, wrapping herself around his upper body. Kish lost his balance and began to fall, but managed to spin them around so they fell on the bed with Ichigo on top of him. She giggled and buried her face into his chest, breathing deeply.

"You smell so nice." She purred.

Kish couldn't resist putting his arms around her. "You do too, kitten."

"Meow!" she said, and licked his nose. "Kish, do you know what today is?"

Kish blinked. He had no clue. With everything that had been going on, he lost track of the days. Also it was very hard to think with her nibbling at his ear like that.

"I give up." He said. "What's today? Ow!"

She chuckled as she nipped him extra hard. "It's been exactly two months since you brought me here. And you do remember what the elder said, don't you?"

What Ichigo meant suddenly registered to him and he had a massive nosebleed. Wiping his nose, he gave the girl, who he still couldn't believe was his kitten, a look of disbelief.

"I-Ichigo, do you realize what you're saying?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I'm tired of waiting."

She reached behind her and unclasped her bra. Kish inhaled, his mouth going dry with anticipation.

With shining eyes, Ichigo looked down at him. "Kiss me, Kish. Please."

He couldn't resist anymore. He pulled her down and kissed her hard. Ichigo moaned against his lips and kissed him back, her mind clouded with desire.

Rolling them over so he was on top, Kish looked down at her with eyes full of love. This was what he had wanted for so long. Ichigo coming into his arms willingly. He'd dreamed about it for so long. And now, it was no longer a dream.

"Ichigo…" he whispered, cupping her cheek.

"Kish…" she whispered back. "I love you."

Kish suddenly felt like he had been slapped in the face. His mind cleared and his desire vanished. She had said it. The three words he had been longing to hear. But it wasn't joy that filled him. No, it was sadness.

This wasn't right. She didn't know what she was saying. She wasn't thinking clearly. If she was, she wouldn't be acting like this. She wasn't speaking from her heart, she was speaking from a mind clouded by lust.

He pulled away. He couldn't do this. Whether it had been the two month deadline or not, he couldn't have their first time be when she was like this. He wanted her to be clear-minded and willing. Not driven by an instinct she inherited from her cat side.

Ichigo looked up at Kish in confusion when he pulled away. He looked upset. She wondered why. Did she do something wrong? Hadn't Kish been trying to get inside her pants since day one? So why the sudden change?

"Kish?"

He moved away from her. "I'm going to go sleep on the couch tonight." He said sadly. "You can have the bed to yourself."

"B-But… Kish!"

"Good night, kitten. I'll see you tomorrow."

He left the room and closed the door. Ichigo was left sitting on the bed. She placed her hand over her heart as she felt a phantom pain stab her.

"Kish… why?"

Feeling very upset, she crawled under the blankets and hugged a pillow to herself. Tears began flowing down her cheeks. The bed felt so cold and lonely without the green-haired alien in it.

"Kish…" she whispered sadly, "don't you love me anymore?"

**(A/N: So who guessed that she was in heat before I told you? Quite an interesting turn of events. Kish actually rejected Ichigo, even though the time he had been waiting so long for finally arrived. And Ichigo, she said that she loved him, but does she really, or does she just think she does in her current state. And just what is Marmalade planning? Stay tuned for more.)**


	15. Chapter 15: You Win

**(A/N: Hmm, I'm not so sure I like the way this chapter turned out. I've just been suffering from massive writer's block and this is what my brain managed to squeeze out. I hope you all like it though.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 15: You Win**

Ichigo absolutely refused to come out of her room. When her time in heat had passed and she reverted back to her normal self, embarrassment for her behavior kicked in full force.

She couldn't believe what she had done. What had gotten into her? She had been all over Kish like a sex-starved nymphomaniac. It was humiliating. Had she no shame? How could she have acted like that?

Feeling heat flood her face, she pulled the blanket over her head, letting out a whimper. _'Stupid cat genes!'_

At least Kish hadn't taken advantage of her. She was actually surprised to still be a virgin since Kish had always seemed so… well, eager. This had been the perfect chance. Not only had the two month deadline passed, but she had been offering herself to him. No, offering was an understatement. She'd practically been demanding that he make love to her.

Make love? Wouldn't that require them to be in love? She knew that Kish loved her; it was her own feelings that she was now uncertain of. She clearly remembered the three magic words she had spoken to him. What she was uncertain of was if they were true or not. Lust and love were two different things; although it was true that sometimes it took lust to realize that one loved someone.

"I do _not_ love Kish." She said to herself.

But even to her own ears, the words sounded false. If she didn't love Kish, then why, when she was in heat, did she get uncontrollably jealous when another woman was even within ten feet of him?

"Just a cat being protective of her mate."

But she couldn't really use that as an excuse. Cats did take more than one mate throughout their life. And even if it had been only lust, why had it been directed only at Kish? There had been plenty of other males around, so why was it him?

'_Think about Masaya.'_ She thought. _'Masaya is the one I love.'_

This did nothing to help her. She didn't have the same feelings for Masaya anymore. She still cared for him; everyone would always care for their first love. But she no longer loved him. She only _wanted_ to love him. Now she may love another.

That was another reason why she was shut up in here. It wasn't just out of embarrassment; it was because she needed to really take time to consider her feelings for Kish. She couldn't deny that she cared about him greatly. But did she love him? That was the million dollar question.

"I don't want to love him." But that didn't mean that she didn't.

Whining loudly, she hugged her pillow tightly to her chest and began rolling around. This wasn't fair. She had thought that she knew what she wanted out of life. Graduate from college, find a good job, get back together with Masaya, have a few demi-god children, help fix up the planet, and live happily ever after. That had been her plan. At first, Kish's interference had been a minor detour down the path she had chosen, but now she might be on a different road altogether, with no way of getting back on track.

With a sigh, she buried her head in her pillow. "Might as well admit it," she muttered, "I've got Stockholm Syndrome."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Kish was experiencing déjà vu. Once again, Ichigo had refused to come out of the room. _His_ room. He knew she was embarrassed. He still remembered her reaction to him the morning after her heat had run out. She had walked out of the room, seen him, turned as red as a tomato, and then, with a squeak, ran back inside.

That had been three days ago. Fortunately for her, there was a bathroom connected to the bedroom, and he was courteous enough to leave food outside the door for her.

But his patience was running out. He needed his kitten with him again. He needed to see her beauty, to feel her skin, to smell her scent, to hear her voice, to taste her lips. He craved her, and couldn't stand being apart, even if they were in the same house.

And he wasn't the only one who missed her.

"Kish!" Cannoli whined. "Why won't big sister Ichigo come out?"

Kish just smiled at her and patted her head. "Because she got sick, remember."

Cannoli frowned. "But, you said that she was all better now."

Kish nodded. "Yes, she's not sick anymore, but she has to regain her strength so she's resting up."

His sister just pouted. "How much longer is she going to be in there?"

With a sigh, Kish glanced in the direction of his room. "I honestly don't know." After a few moments, his eyes narrowed as he came to a decision. "But I'm going to find out."

He'd been playing the part of the nice guy for too long. It was time for the mischievous and playful Kish to return. He may end up embarrassing his kitten further, but that was ok. She looked so cute when she was embarrassed.

With no warning, he teleported into the bedroom. Ichigo screamed and hide under the covers again. Kish just chuckled.

"Aww, kitten, why so bashful?" he asked playfully. "You were so enthusiastic a few days ago."

He heard her groan. "Please, Kish, just go away."

Kish raised an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is _my_ room. I have every right to be in here. Now come out from under there.

"No."

"Kitten…"

"No!"

With a sigh, Kish grabbed the blanket and pulled it off the bed. Ichigo squealed and buried her face in the pillow so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"There's my pretty kitty."

"Not yours."

He grinned. "You sure acted like mine not too long ago. And also, like you yourself pointed out, the two month deadline has passed. That means I can take what is mine."

She suddenly threw the pillow at him. "You wouldn't dare!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't do what? You mean attack you? Guess again."

He jumped on the bed. Ichigo screamed and tried to scramble off. Kish wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back.

'_Just like old times.'_ He thought as he flipped her onto her back and pinned her down. "Looks like I caught you again."

Ichigo struggled beneath him. "Let me up!"

Kish sighed. "Ok, but it'll cost you."

Ichigo groaned. She had a very good idea of what he wanted. "And what will that be?"

The words were barely out of her mouth before he kissed her. He was making up for the past few days he hadn't been able to express his love, and he was making sure she knew it. Ichigo struggled more for a while, but eventually gave up, and soon returned the kiss.

Kish smiled against her lips. It looked like things were back to normal. "Ah, kitten, how I've missed this. I love you so much." He trailed kisses along her neck, slowly moving towards her pointy ear. When he reached it, he traced his tongue along it and then blew gently, making her shiver. "I want you so bad, kitten."

He felt her tense up. He immediately changed tactics, going from passionate to comforting. After some gently touches, he felt her begin to relax against him. He smiled, pleased that she was getting used to his touch and enjoying it.

"Kish."

"Hmm?"

She hesitated, trying to find the right words. "There's something I've been wondering." She bit her lip nervously. "That night, when the deadline passed, why didn't you… take me?" A blush stained her cheeks. "I was offering myself to you."

Kish's smile vanished to be replaced by absolute seriousness. He looked down at her, gently caressing her cheek. "I didn't take you, because I wanted you."

Ichigo looked confused. "I don't understand. You could have had what you wanted."

Kish shook his head. "No, kitten. I would have only gotten your body. I want more than that. I want you, wholly and completely. I don't just wanted your body, as lovely as it is, I also want you, your love, your very soul. I want you to come to me willingly. Not driven by instinct. I want you to come because you love me too, and you want to be with me. If I had taken you while you weren't thinking clearly, I would have lost you." He tapped her on the nose. "I love you too much for that. I want your love, and I won't settle for anything less, no matter how long it takes. I'll have you, the real you. And it will be when you are fully aware of yourself."

Ichigo's pounding heart skipped a beat. There was no denying it any further. She knew for a fact that Kish truly loved her and would do anything for her. And she couldn't hide from her feelings any longer.

"Kish…" she whispered. "What if… it wasn't just my instincts talking?"

Kish raised an eyebrow. "What wasn't?"

She squirmed under him nervously. "I know that I wasn't myself for a while, but those words, I would never use those words lightly." Blushing, she looked into his beautiful yellow eyes. "It doesn't matter that I wasn't thinking clearly, I won't say those words without meaning them."

Kish was silent for a moment. Then his eyes slowly widened. "What are you saying?"

Ichigo knew she was going to hate herself for this later when Kish's smugness surfaced. "The game is over, Kish. You win."

Cannoli didn't see either of them until late the next day.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Marmalade stepped out of the spaceship. So this is what their old home was like. The humans had certainly made a lot of changes. True, their technology wasn't up to his people's level, but the humans certainly went all out with what they did have.

He shook his head. He couldn't both with that now. First he had to find the Mew Mews. Then he had to find that Masaya person. Once he took care of his business with them things would begin to turn in his favor.

He decided that the first place to check would be the café. And apparently he had been right. But he would have to be careful. He knew that they wouldn't trust him. But he was certain that he could earn their trust when he told them what had become of their fellow teammate.

**(A/N: ****For those of you that don't know, Stockholm Syndrome is when someone who is kidnapped falls in love with their kidnapper. But Stockholm Syndrome or not, Ichigo has given into her feelings for Kish. True, she hasn't said the words yet, at least not while in a stable state of mind, but she's not denying it anymore. But Marmalade is up to no good. Just what are his plans involving the Mew Mews and Masaya? Whatever he's planning, it's not going to be good for Kish or anyone else that gets in his way.****)**


	16. Chapter 16: Cooking Catastrophe and

**(I am so very, very sorry. I've had finals this week and last week and have had no time to write. I apologize for the long wait. To make it up to you, I have a real surprise at the end.)**

**Chapter 16: Cooking Catastrophe and A Surprise**

The past few weeks had been utter bliss for Kish. Ichigo was finally his mate. She could never leave him now, and he would kill anyone who tried to take her away.

Not that that was likely to happen. The only possible threat of that was Marmalade, and he hadn't been seen in weeks. It was nice not having to worry about the spiky-haired alien.

"Kitten." He cooed, wrapping his arms around his mate.

Ichigo glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, Kish, what's wrong?"

He breathed in her scent and placed a kiss on her neck. "Mmm, nothing, I just love being with you."

Ichigo cut her eyes at him. "Forget it, Kish. You're not getting me into bed again. I just got out of the shower."

Kish pouted. "But I want you, love."

"We just did it 20 minutes ago."

"That long? No wonder I hunger for you so much."

Ichigo rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "You're insatiable."

The green-haired alien chuckled. "You bring out the beast in me."

"KISH, CANNOLI IS RIGHT THERE!"

Kish glanced at his sister, who was taking a nap on the couch. With a mischievous look in his eyes, he pulled Ichigo into his arms again. "Fine, I'll wake her up and send her to her friend's house for a few hours."

Ichigo felt her resolve vanishing. "You can't just do that every time you want to make love to me."

Kish's grin grew wider. "Then do you want to do it while she's right there? Does the thought of getting caught excite you? I didn't know you were so frisky, kitten."

"KISH, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME RIGHT NOW!"

_Scratch! Scratch!_

Ichigo's claws raked over Kish's face. After getting scratched about 20 times over the past few days, Kish had learned that this was her way of telling him that she was done fooling around.

He let her go, holding his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, kitten. You're just so beautiful that I can't help myself."

Ichigo blushed. "F-Flatterer."

Kish chuckled. "So, how about some lunch. I'm cooking."

Ichigo pouted. "You said you'd teach me how to cook new dishes."

Kish sweat-dropped. Being from a different planet, his people had several different types of foods that weren't found on Earth. He had tried teaching Ichigo before, and she had nearly burned down the house.

"Now, Ichigo, remember what happened the last time you tried that."

She glared at him. "I've gotten better."

Kish nodded. "Yes, last time you almost burned down just the kitchen rather than the whole house."

"Kish!"

He sighed. "Oh, alright. But remember to follow my instructions exactly this time."

'_I don't know why I bothered.'_ He thought, watching as Ichigo batted at the flames with his new curtains. _'If I keep letting her try to cook, she's going to kill us one day.'_

Unaware of her mate's thoughts, Ichigo continued to try and put out the fire she had somehow caused. "It's ok! I got it! Don't worry, it's almost out!"

Kish raised an eyebrow. _'It is?'_ It looked bigger.

With a sigh he walked over to a drawer and pulled out what appeared to be a bottle of Windex. He twisted the cap, changing it from Low, to High. He casually pointed it at Ichigo and the fire and pulled the trigger. A large mass of water erupted from the small bottle like a wave, extinguishing the fire and soaking Ichigo to the bone.

Ichigo blinked a few times, wondering what happened. She glanced at Kish who raised an eyebrow at her. The she turned her attention to what was the alien qualification of a stove and saw the blacked and burned ashy remains of what had once been food.

"It's… it's ready." She said grinning nervously.

At that moment, Cannoli decided to risk a peek at what would be their meal. She frowned at the substance that looked like a lump of coal in a pan of ash-filled water.

"Um, big sister Ichigo," she said hesitantly, "I forgot to tell you that Vanilla invited me over her house for lunch, so I'll be going there now."

Ichigo pouted. "You sure you don't want to just sample what I made?"

Cannoli proceeded to walk backwards. "Thanks, but I'll let big brother Kish enjoy you're wonderful cooking. Bye."

Kish glared at his sister as she took off. _'Traitor.'_

He turned back to Ichigo. Once again her attempt to cook ended in a disaster. Maybe from now on he should only allow her to cook food from Earth.

Ichigo carefully transferred the burned meat to a plate, using a rag to dab up the water from it. "It's pretty burned," she noted, "but hopefully it'll be better than last time."

Kish tried very hard to mask his dread at having to eat what had once been perfectly good food. "I… I'm sure you've improved a great deal." He sat at the table. "Well, here it goes. What's it you say? Oh yeah, itadakimasu!"

Knowing it would be better to get it over quickly, he stuffed the entire thing in his mouth. It tasted like ash. He suppressed a groan, even as his eyes began to water.

"Well?" Ichigo asked hopefully. "Did I improve?"

More tears ran down Kish's cheeks. _'Oh, kitten, what I do for you.'_ He put on a fake smile. "Oh yes, kitten, you've done great! A lot better than last time! Yes, this is definitely the best thing you've cooked since you got here."

Ichigo gave him a smile. "Well it must be good since you ate it all at once. But it's rude to talk with your mouth full. Swallow before talking."

Kish wanted to weep. He couldn't bring himself to swallow the ashy substance in his mouth. Maybe stuffing it all into his mouth wasn't such a good idea. His mouth was so full that he couldn't even chew properly.

The sound of someone knocking at the door distracted them. Ichigo got up and left the kitchen. "I'll get it!" she cried happily.

'_Salvation!'_

Kish quickly teleported away, reappearing outside over a forest. Here he spat out what was in his mouth.

"Yuck! Nasty!"

Spitting a few times to get the taste out of his mouth, he quickly teleported back into the kitchen and sat down, just before Ichigo walked in.

"We've got mail." She said.

"Fabulous." Kish muttered still tasting the ash in his mouth.

Kish tore open the letter. Her eyes scanned over the alien writing as she tried to remember what it meant.

"To… con…con…congra…congratulate you… on your… your…" Her eyes squinted as she looked at the strange letters. "M…ma…ma…matting…? Oh, on your mating."

With a sigh, Kish snatched the letter out of her hands. "You need to practice more." He told her. He looked at the letter. "To congratulate you on your mating, I have a grand surprise for you. Simply following the directions included in this letter to receive your surprise." He looked up at Ichigio. "A little late, don't you think?"

"Kish!" Ichigo snapped. "That's mean. It's the thought that counts. They didn't have to get us anything."

"Of course not." Kish muttered sarcastically. "I mean, I only saved the entire planet from dying. Nothing worth making a big fuss over."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Ichigo asked.

Kish teasingly waved the letter with the directions on it in her face. "Which one of us can read?"

Ichigo glared at him." I can read." She muttered.

Kish chuckled. "And as strange as it is, these are the directions written down." He looked around. "Why they would lead us all the way out here is beyond me, but…" He shrugged, looking back at the directions. "Ok, 'from there you should be able to see a large tree that had blown over into another tree, making and X shape'. Do you see one, kitten?"

"I think so." Ichigo replied, hovering in the air. "Yeah, it's waaaaaay over there. About a mile away."

"Hmm." Kish looked at the directions again. "'Teleport there and I will be waiting'. Why didn't they just deliver the surprise to our house?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Too big, maybe."

Kish stuffed the letter in his pocket. "Whatever. Here, hold my hand."

Ichigo placed her hand in his. "I can teleport on my own now."

"Oh, I know that, kitten." He winked at her. "I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand."

The two of them vanished. They reappeared beneath the giant trees leaning against one another.

"Ok." Kish muttered. "There's no one here." Her took out the letter for more information, finding none. "I'll bet this was a prank. Definitely Marmalade's doing."

"Only one out of two." Came a familiar voice. The spiky haired alien stepped out from hiding. "It was from me, but it's no prank."

Ichigo's eyes lit up. "Oh, Marmalade! I was beginning to worry after not seeing you for so long. I'm glad you're ok."

Kish just grunted. He knew that Ichigo still cared for Marmalade out of the friendship they had once shared before the guy had shown his true colors. But he didn't want Ichigo to care for him at all, even as friends.

"So, what do you want?" he demanded rudely.

Marmalade smirked. "I'm simply here to congratulate the two of you. Well, mostly you, Kish. You finally got the girl of your dreams." His gaze shifted to Ichigo. "I had hoped you would continue to fight him off."

Ichigo frowned. "Marmalade, please, can't we just stop all this hostility? You're my friend. Or at least you used to be." She shook her head. "No, we're still friends. I want us to be friends. Can't we just put the past behind us and move on?"

Marmalade found this amusing. "Silly strawberry, you make it sound so easy. A lot of people find it very hard to just forget the past. Although," his eyes narrowed, "you seem to have forgotten yours." He grinned wickedly. "Tell me, what would your human friends do if they discovered that you took one of their enemies as your mate?"

Kish moved in front of Ichigo. "I've had enough of you!"

"I'm not talking to you, Kish. Right now this doesn't concern you. Although I did make sure your mate's human friends knew of your involvement in her kidnapping."

Kish's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Marmalade had a look of confidence on his face. "The whole reason I was gone for so long was because I went to our old home. I tracked down all the Mew Mews and informed them of what happened. The little monkey girl was the most upset." His grin widened. "Safe to say that they're very angry at you, Kish. But you won't be around by the time they get here."

"Here?" Ichigo's eyes widened. "They're coming _here_?"

"Once their ship is done." He chuckled. "I must say, those two boys at the café are very smart. It shouldn't take them that long to get here."

Kish growled, his claws digging into his palms enough to draw blood. "You bastard. You're trying to take my Ichigo away. I'll kill you!"

Marmalade held up his hand. "Calm yourself, Kish. You don't need to worry about those humans. I'm the one you should concern yourself with. You see, while on Earth, I also paid a visit to your mate's ex-boyfriend."

Ichigo gasped. "You saw Masaya?"

"Indeed. Real nice guy. He cares about the planet more than anything, even you." He snickered at the look of hurt on Ichigo's face. "But thanks to him, I now have what is necessary to surpass Kish in every way possible."

"What the hell are you blabbing about?" Kish demanded.

"I'm saying," said Marmalade, "that I have become all powerful. Now behold your doom!"

Power exploded from him. Kish and Ichigo had to look away as a bright aura blinded them. Marmalade was crying out loudly, a victorious look in his eyes. His features began to change until the aura consumed him to the point that he was no longer visible.

His power erupted and the aura vanished. Ichigo and Kish rubbed their eyes, seeing spots from the light's intensity. They gasped at what they saw. Marmalade had changed. His skin had become chalk white, his hair had grown much longer, turned jet-black, and lost its spiky-ness, cascading down his back. His yellow eyes had turned an icy blue with a look of insanity in them, and even his clothes had changed, becoming those of royalty, dark blue in color.

"Kish…" Ichigo whimpered, holding onto him.

Kish's eyes were wide with fear. "No, it can't be."

"But it is." Said the transformed Marmalade. "It's the return of Deep Blue."

**(A/N: How's that for a jaw-dropper? I'm sure by now you have all figured out that Marmalade was the antagonist of the story, but I bet you didn't see Deep Blue coming back as the real villain. Just how is he here, that will be explained next chapter, which, once again, may take a little bit longer to update than usual because of my finals.)**


	17. Chapter 17: How It All Began

**(A/N: I know you've been wondering just how Deep Blue has returned and how Marmalade turned into him. The mystery shall now be revealed, along with a few other unanswered questions.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 17: How It All Began**

Kish moved in front of Ichigo protectively. "It's not possible." He said.

Deep Blue smiled cruelly. "But it is. I've come back."

"You can't come back!" Ichigo yelled. "I destroyed you. I saw you die."

Deep Blue chuckled. "Foolish girl. I can't die. I am a god. I told you before, I'm almighty." He suddenly frowned. "What you did was weaken me enough to allow Masaya to take complete control of our body once again. I was never dead, little Mew Mew. I can't be killed."

"Well how the hell are you here?" Kish demanded.

Deep Blue's evil smile came back. "I have your friend Marmalade to thank for that. I was trapped in Masaya's conscience until he came along. You see, he didn't just stop to visit those miserable humans, he also came looking for Masaya." His eyes narrowed in on Ichigo. "Did he not find the story you told him interesting? Didn't he ask a lot of questions about me?"

Ichigo thought back to the time when she had spoken to Marmalade about who she really was. He had indeed asked a lot of questions, particularly about Deep Blue.

The wicked god saw that she knew what he was talking about. "You do remember that, don't you?"

Kish glanced at Ichigo. "You told Marmalade about what happened on Earth?"

Ichigo nodded shyly. "This was after he figured out I wasn't a real alien. I thought it would be best to tell him the truth to earn his trust."

"Touching." Deep Blue muttered. "He was apparently smarter than you. He figured out right away that I couldn't have been destroyed. Gods are immortal. He realized that I must still live within Masaya. So he came to find me. And when he finally did, he invoked me, taking me into his very being. I separated from Masaya and made Marmalade my new host." He snickered. "He was an utter fool. He thought that if he invoked me that he would gain the powers of a god. But the idiot had no idea what he was getting himself into. Gain my powers? Ha, he ended up losing his very identity. And it was all so he could defeat you, Kish."

The green-haired alien growled. "The damned fool."

"That he was." Deep Blue agreed. "He let his desire to surpass you control his life." He looked down at his sword, casually running his finger over the blade. "Tell me, do you know of the humans' Seven Deadly Sins? They're supposedly the worst type of sins that can rule a person's life. Marmalade was guilty of four of them. Pride, wrath, envy, and greed. And now he's paying for his sins."

"No!" Ichigo shouted. "Marmalade, if you're in there, you need to come back! He's using you like a puppet!"

Deep Blue laughed maniacally. "I'm afraid this goes far beyond puppetry. And just to clear things up, your friend Marmalade is gone. He's no more."

"Liar!" Ichigo shouted. "You said the same thing about Masaya, but he was still there."

Deep Blue shook his finger at her. "This is different. But to understand the situation, you need to know the type of relationship that Masaya and I had." He swung his sword through the air, the slicing sound making the other two wince. "As you know, I was in a weakened state, unable to even hold a physical form. So I created Masaya to act as, shall we say, an avatar. As I got stronger, I slowly poured more and more of myself into him. Masaya was slowly being erased to be replaced with me." He cocked his head to the side. "I suppose you can think of it like the way Masaya became the Blue Knight. The Blue Knight was a separate being that was accidentally created. But slowly Masaya took over the Blue Knight until he _was_ the Blue Knight. That was what was supposed to happen with Masaya and me. He was to slowly become me until there was no Masaya left, only me." His eyes flashed with angry red light. "But apparently his love for you allowed him to keep his conscience and prevented me from erasing him."

"I don't see what your point is." Kish snarled.

Deep Blue smirked. "My point, Kish, is that Marmalade did not fight me. Not knowing what he was really getting into, he embraced me completely. He gave himself to me, body, mind, and soul. There is no longer a Marmalade. There is only Deep Blue."

"No…" Ichigo moaned.

Kish growled. "Damn you." He never did like Marmalade, but the guy hadn't deserved to be erased. "We should have left you buried in the earth's core."

"Yes," Deep Blue agreed, "you should have. But the desire to save your people was too great. But tell me, Kish, didn't you or your friends ever wonder how I, a god, ended up in such a pitiful state?"

Kish was momentarily caught off guard by the question. Truthfully, no, he, Pie, and Tart never did question what seemed to be the way to save their people. They had just accepted it.

"Allow me to enlighten you." said Deep Blue with a cocky smile. "I'm sure you guessed by now that I'm very possessive of my planet. I didn't want anyone near it. At least nothing that can think beyond their instincts like your race and the humans. So that's when I decided to annihilate you all. You see, it was me that made the planet too hostile to live on. Your race finally got it into their heads that they had to leave. Once you left, I returned Earth to its normal state." His eyes narrowed. "But I knew your race would come back one day. So I decided to wipe you out completely. Once you settled here on this planet, I made this planet hostile as well. Being so far away, I couldn't cause the hostility I had on Earth, but it was still plenty destructive."

Angrily, he stabbed his sword into the ground, making the entire planet shake. "But I overestimated my powers. Affecting a planet that wasn't under my control, one so far away as well, was too much and my power broke, reducing me to the state you found me in. And I was unable to stop the humans from populating my beloved planet."

Deep Blue's words were falling on deaf ears. Kish had stopped listening after Deep Blue had told him that he caused the hostility on both planets. That meant that he was responsible for everything that had happened. It was Deep Blue's fault all along. He was the reason his race lost their old home, he was the reason why countless of his people died, he was the reason his parents were dead. It was all Deep Blue.

"You… you… bastard…" Kish seethed. "You damned bastard!"

His swords appeared in his hands and he flew at Deep Blue in a blind rage. Ichigo cried out for him to stop, but her words fell on deaf ears. Deep Blue calmly remained where he was. Once Kish was up close to him, Deep Blue raised his hand and unleashed a blast of blue energy.

Kish cried out as the energy threw him backwards, slamming him into a tree. He groaned in pain, forcing himself to sit up and glare at Deep Blue.

"You've forgotten your place." The god told him. "It seems that a reminder of my power is in order."

He pointed to the sky and began rotating his finger clockwise. The clouds began swirling together, turning dark. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed as the wind picked up and the sky turned black.

"Do these storm clouds seem familiar?" Deep Blue asked. "They should. You've seen them nearly everyday of your life."

Kish looked up at the sky fearfully. Yes, he recognized these weather patterns. Deep Blue was making the planet hostile again. No, he couldn't. They'd just managed to obtain peaceful lives a few short years ago. He couldn't make things the way they were before. Who knew if there was even anymore Mew Aqua left to heal the planet again.

"Son of a bitch!" Kish shouted and charged at Deep Blue.

Deep Blue held up his hand and bright blue bolts of electricity flew out of his fingers. Kish cried out as the electricity struck him, wrapping around him like rope. With a wicked sneer, Deep Blue swung his hand, moving the electricity with his hand's movement. Kish began slamming into trees, crashing right through them as he was pulled along by the electricity.

"Let him go!" Ichigo shouted.

She jumped on Deep Blue's back, wrapping her hands around his and sinking her fangs into his shoulder. Deep Blue merely grunted irritably and his body flashed with blue energy. Ichigo went flying backwards, slamming painfully into a tree.

Deep Blue turned to her. "Wait for your turn." He said coldly. "I plan to kill you slowly."

"Over my dead body!"

Kish appeared behind Deep Blue, swinging his swords. Deep Blue whirled around and blocked both of Kish's blades with his own sword. He calmly touched the tip of is index finger to Kish's chest and a beam of blue energy shot out. Kish went flying backwards, pushed back by the energy beam until he slammed into a tree, nearly uprooting it. The beam of energy kept coming, causing Kish's body to spasm while Deep Blue watched in amusement.

"Have I reminded you of your place, mortal?" Deep Blue mocked.

Gritting his teeth together, Kish managed to raise his arm enough to through one of his swords. Deep Blue's eyes widened in surprise at Kish's unexpected display of strength. He moved aside, but the blade still grazed his cheek. A red line of blood appeared on his white skin on the right side of his mouth.

Slowly Deep Blue reached up and wiped away the blood. He looked at the sticky substance on his finger before turning his cold angry eyes on Kish. "You still had the strength to attack after that. I'm impressed."

Gasping in pain, Kish forced himself to stand up. "I don't care… how much you hurt me… I can take whatever you throw at me… I'm not giving up…"

"So it would seem." Deep Blue replied. He raised his hand aiming at Kish, summoning up more power. "But I know how to deliver a blow that you'll never recover from."

A large ball of energy appeared in his hand. Kish braced himself for the attack. "And how is that, almighty one?"

Red light glowed in the center of Deep Blue's black pupils as an insane grin spread over his face, the ball of energy in his hand growing larger. "I'll simply destroy your heart."

"My heart?" Kish repeated. His hand automatically covered his chest. His race may have high healing abilities, but his heart was one thing he wouldn't be able to regenerate.

Deep Blue chuckled as he watched Kish's pathetic attempt to shield his chest. "Wrong heart."

He suddenly directed the handing holding the ball of energy at Ichigo and let it go.

**(A/N: ****Another cliffhanger, but at least I've answered some of your questions. Marmalade was ignorant to Deep Blue's true power and has paid the price for it. I also answered a few other unanswered questions from the anime, like how exactly Deep Blue ended up in a state of living light. It was him that drove the aliens away, and who made their new planet hostile as well. And now he's back to finish the job. But how can Kish and Ichigo defeat a god? Masaya was able to take control last time, but Marmalade is gone and quite unable to take control. Things seem rather hopeless****.****)**


	18. Chapter 18: The Power Is In You

**(A/N: I'm not so happy with the title I came up with for this chapter. If anyone has any better suggestions, let me know and if I like it, I'll change this title.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 18: The Power Is In You**

Kish played right into Deep Blue's hands. Love resulted in such predictable behavior. Well, not always, but it did in this case. The moment he had fired off his attack, Kish had teleported. There wasn't enough time to grab Ichigo and teleport away again, so he merely shielded her with his body.

The attack hit and Kish's cry of pain echoed all around them. Ichigo's eyes widened with horror as Kish dropped down in front of her. His shirt was reduced to ash and his back was badly burned from the attack.

Ichigo screamed and dropped down beside Kish, calling his name. Kish was unresponsive, and she feared the worst.

"Kish, don't die!" she screamed. "You can't die on me! Kish!"

Deep Blue watched the scene with an expressionless look on his face. "Predictable, foolish. Mortals are so easy to take advantage of."

Ichigo glared at him. "Shut your mouth!" She looked back down at Kish, shaking him. "Kish, you can't do this! You can't leave me alone! You promised we would always be together! You can't leave me now! What if I'm pregnant? Are you just going to leave me to raise our child alone? What about your sister? Cannoli needs you too! We all need you!"

Deep Blue raised an eyebrow. "I can reunite you." he said, raising his hand and building up energy. "You'll be back with your mate in no time."

Ichigo ignored the deranged god. "Stop teasing me like this, Kish! It's not funny anymore! Open your eyes! Come on, please wake up! I'll forgive you if you do! I'll forgive you for everything you've ever done to me, but I'll never forgive you if you die on me now!"

She buried her face into his chest and began weeping. "Look, your making me cry again. I cried last time too. When everyone was dying, you were the only one I cried for. I didn't have time to cry for the others, not even Masaya, but I cried for you." A sad smile emerged on her face. "I think I may have loved you even then. I never realized it until now, or maybe I refused to believe it since you were my enemy, but I think I loved you even then." She shut her eyes as the tears began pouring down her cheeks. "I can't lose you again!"

She felt a hand caress her cheek. The touch was familiar. She opened her eyes to see Kish looking up at her, a painful smile on his face. "I wish you'd told me that sooner." He winked at her. "If I had known that getting gravely injured would have gotten you to confess, I would have done it sooner."

Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief. "K-Kish… were you… faking it?"

Kish tried to move, wincing in pain. "No, not faking it…" he gave her a mischievous grin, "but maybe exaggerating a bit."

"YOU BIG JERK!"

She raised her hand to hit him. Kish caught it as it was coming down, and pulled her towards him, kissing her hard. Ichigo struggled, feeling infuriated, but soon relief and passion overcame her anger and she kissed him back.

Kish broke the kiss and chuckled. "I need to get hurt more often."

"I can arrange that." Deep Blue replied.

The two looked up at him, being brought back to reality. Ichigo wrapped her arms around Kish protectively, which made him smile. He was reluctant to pull her arms off him, but he was the one that had to protect her.

"Guess again, blue man." He grunted. "I'm the one that's going to hurt you."

Deep Blue threw his head back and laughed. "You, hurt me? Stupid boy. You can't hurt me, I'm a god."

"No," Kish corrected, "I can't kill you. I can still hurt you quite a bit. Maybe even weaken you enough to reduce you to that pathetic excuse of an existence you were stuck in when we first found you."

Deep Blue's smile vanished and he looked at Kish coldly. "Your words will get you nowhere. The fact of the matter is that you can't do anything to stop me. There's no Masaya to take over my body this time. There's nothing to stop me from killing you, and everyone else on this planet before I return to my planet and do the process all over again." He grinned. "I think I'll kill your sister slowly."

Kish's eyes flashed violently. "You stay away from my sister."

"Kish," Ichigo muttered, "you're not too hurt, are you?" she asked, resting a hand on his burned shoulder, making him wince. "I'm sorry!"

Kish looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. "I love your touch, kitten but now's not the time. I'll be just fine. These wounds will heal fast. Three weeks tops."

"That's not fast!"

"It won't matter." Deep Blue told them. "You won't live past today."

"The hell we won't!" Kish shouted, and charged at the god.

Deep Blue calmly raised his sword and blocked Kish's attack. Kish was good, but he was nowhere near the god's level. Deep Blue was much faster and stronger than he was. He knew that Deep Blue was playing with him, that if he wanted to, he could end this immediately.

And that's exactly what Deep Blue was doing. He was humoring Kish. Not because he found amusement in it, or because he wanted to drag this out. He wanted Kish to realize how hopeless the situation was. To recognize his godly powers. To know that no matter how hard he tried, he was nowhere near as good as Deep Blue. This was a display of power, nothing more.

But Kish wasn't giving up. He didn't care that Deep Blue was playing with him. Let the sick freak have his fun. As long as Deep Blue wasn't taking this seriously, that meant that he might be able to surprise him and get the upper hand.

Deep Blue continued blocking both of Kish's blades, his movements fast enough to stop any swipe Kish made. But he was quickly becoming bored. He believed he made his point. There was no defeating him.

When his sword once again made contact with Kish's blade, he channeled electricity into his sword. Kish cried out as he was shocked, dropping the sword that had connected with Deep Blue's blade. Deep Blue waved his hand and a whip made of blue energy appeared, wrapping around Kish. Deep Blue swung the whip and Kish went crashing to the ground.

The whip vanished and Deep Blue appeared right over. Struggling to stay conscious, Kish pointed his remaining sword at Deep Blue. The god's eyes narrowed and he swung his own sword. A blade of energy shot out of his sword and cut right through Kish's blade, rendering the weapon useless.

Kish growled. The situation seemed hopeless, but he wasn't giving up. He spotted the sword he had dropped just a short distance away. He reached for it, only to have Deep Blue's foot come crashing down on his hand.

Casually, Deep Blue picked up Kish's sword and examined it curiously. The he looked down at Kish, who was glaring at him defiantly, and stabbed downwards. Kish howled in pain as his own blade pierced his other arm. He was now pinned to the ground, one arm held down by Deep Blue's foot, the other impaled by his own sword.

"I believe," said Deep Blue, "that our time together is at an end."

Ichigo watched in horror as Deep Blue raised his sword to deliver the final blow. She couldn't just stand by and watch Kish die. But what could she do? Damn it, she felt so helpless. She wanted to fight. She wanted to stop Deep Blue. She wanted to save Kish.

'_I won't let him die!'_ she told herself. _'I WON'T!'_

A familiar feeling enveloped her. She gasped at the feeling of power flowing through her. She didn't see how it was possible, but there was no mistaking that feeling. It was there, and she reached for it.

"Strawberry Bell!" she cried.

There was a flash of light and her Mew Mew weapon appeared. The heart-shaped object with a bell that maximized her powers back when she was still a Mew Mew.

Ichigo didn't question it. She seized the bell and summoned up all her power. "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!"

The bright light from the attack caught Deep Blue's attention. He turned away from Kish and raised his hand. Ichigo's attack collided with his open palm, forcing him back. When the attack died down, the only damage that Deep Blue had received was his hand being slightly singed.

"Congratulation," he said nonchalantly, "you damaged me as much as sticking my hand under hot water would have."

Suddenly he was in front of her. Ichigo gasped in surprise and held up her Strawberry Bell. Deep Blue carelessly knocked the bell out of her hands and then wrapped his hand around her throat and lifted her off the ground.

Ichigo's hands clawed at Deep Blue as she struggled to breathe. Deep Blue watched her calmly, not showing any sign of a conscience as he strangled her.

"Mew Mew Ichigo." He said. "You prolonged my return. For that, I shall receive death." He pressed his sword into her stomach, but not hard enough to break the skin. "And when your Mew Mew friends get here, I will kill them slowly, and it will be because of you that they will suffer."

"Don'… Don'…" Ichigo struggled to speak. "Don' you 'urt my frien's."

He pressed his blade further into Ichigo's stomach. "They are the least of your concern right now."

With a battle cry, Kish suddenly appeared beside them. He swung his sword, slicing of the hand that was holding Ichigo. With a cry of pain, Deep Blue jumped back, looking at where his hand used to be in disbelief.

Kish ignored the shocked god and lifted Ichigo up. "Are you ok, kitten?"

Coughing, she nodded. "He didn't cut me."

Kish gave her a smile, and then turned to Deep Blue, who was still staring at his bloody stump. It couldn't be. How had Kish damaged him like this? Minor cuts and bruises were one thing, which would heal instantly, but having his hand cut off…

"It can't be." He cried. "I'm a god. How could this happen to me?"

Kish stood up, pointing his sword at Deep Blue. "I have a theory. Want to hear it?" When Deep Blue looked at him, he took that as a yes. "I wondered about this, and it looks like my theory is right… You're not immortal."

Nursing his bleeding stump, Deep Blue glared at him. "What? How dare you? I know what I am."

"Were." Kish told him. "But when you entered Marmalade's body, you lost your immortality. Your real body, your immortal body, is still back on Earth where you left it, inhabited by Masaya. Marmalade is mortal, and you made his body yours, that means you are too. You may have all your godly powers, but you're still mortal."

Deep Blue's eyes flickered with, could that be fear? "It can't be."

"Do you have another explanation, all-knowing one?" Kish asked. He swung his sword. "Looks like we're on the same playing field now. You may have powers I don't, but you're still mortal. That means you can still die." He grinned at the now mortal god. "So, what are you going to do? You've never had death hanging over you before. Rather intimidating, isn't it? Still feel so confident?"

Kish was bluffing. He knew that if Deep Blue truly wanted to continue, that he would most likely win. But for an immortal being to suddenly have the possibility of death presented to him was something the psychotic god had never experienced. He never had to fear anything before, but now he did, and he was afraid.

With a look of fear and anger, Deep Blue teleported away, deciding to look into this new discovery more before making any rash decisions.

But Kish wasn't about to let him escape. He teleported as well, reappearing right next to Deep Blue a moment later. Deep Blue glared at him and teleported away again, only to have Kish follow him.

Unable to shake the alien off, Deep Blue's eyes shifted briefly to his sword that he had dropped. He teleported towards it, wanting his weapon back.

Kish had noticed him glance at the sword and anticipated his move. He teleported a split second before Deep Blue, stabbing forward. Deep Blue reappeared right on Kish's sword, the blade piercing his chest. His eyes widened in shock and he looked down. Kish's sword was buried in his chest.

He looked back up at Kish. He opened his mouth to speak, and blood poured out. "But… I'm… a god…"

Kish pulled his sword from Deep Blue's chest. "Well now the real gods will judge you."

Deep Blue's mouth moved to speak, but no words came out. Finally he fell forward and lay face down on the ground, dead.

The sword fell from Kish's hands and he fell to his knees. His arm where Deep Blue had stabbed him was hurting badly. And now that the danger had passed, the real pain of it was really hitting him.

"Kish!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw Ichigo teleport to him. It made him smile. "Kitten, you finally managed to teleport. Congrates."

She latched onto him. "This is no time for jokes, Kish. You're hurt."

He patted her hand. "Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine. Five weeks, six weeks top and I'll be back to normal."

Ichigo hugged him, laughing in relief. "What am I going to do with you?"

"How about love me?"

She smiled. "I already do." She looked up at the sky. "I wonder if my friends will believe that."

Kish swore and looked up at the sky as well. "Damn, I forgot about them. If I know those Mew Mews, they're planning some superb rescue mission to take you away from me." His grip on her tightened. "I won't let them take you, kitten."

Ichigo sighed and leaned against him, sighing in contentment. "I know better than to leave you." she said. Then she smiled, telling him what he really wanted to hear. "Not that I would want to anyway."

Kish arms wrapped around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Good kitty."

**(A/N: ****Deep Blue is dead. Seems Marmalade **_**did**_** play a small role in his defeat, making Deep Blue mortal. The villain and the rival are now gone. Will Kish and Ichigo get their happily ever after? That depends. I've got plans for next chapter that can have two very different results. See you then****.****)**


	19. Epilogue: Kish and Kitten

**(A/N: DON'T PANIC, PEOPLE! I know this chapter title means the end. Just read my author's note at the end, and I'm sure you'll feel much better.)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Epilogue: Kish and Kitten**

Kish gazed through MegaScope, checking on the progress the Mew Mews were making on their journey. He had to admit, those two boys really were very smart to be able to create a spaceship that could travel so fast. He wondered why they didn't share their inventions with the rest of the world.

"How are they doing?"

Kish looked away from the MegaScope and turned to Ichigo. "They're making nice progress. Much faster than I thought."

Ichigo smiled. "I can't wait to see them again. How much longer until they get here?"

Kish shrugged. "Not sure." He turned to his fellow alien. "Hey, Pie, you're good with calculations. How long until they arrive?"

Pie sighed impatiently. Putting down what he was working on, he went and gazed through the telescope. "Well, based upon the speed they're traveling and the distance they still need to travel, I'd say about three weeks, give or take a day or two."

Ichigo beamed. "Oh, good! I can't wait to see them again!" She looked down and placed her hands on her heavily pregnant stomach. "Maybe they'll get here in time to see the baby be born."

Kish walked over to her and laid his hand on Ichigo's stomach, feeling their child kick. "Perhaps. It shouldn't be much longer now." He chuckled nervously. "Your friends are _so_ going to kill me."

Ichigo ran her hands through his silky green hair. "No they won't. I won't let them. I'm sure they'll understand." She gave Kish a suspicious look. "By the way, you _did_ come up with something to say to everyone about they're 'mortal enemies' coming to visit, right?"

Kish sweat-dropped and gave her a nervous smile. "Um… well…"

"Kish!"

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. I promise. But I'm going to need your help." He frowned slightly. "That cat-boy is going to try and convince you to go back. He really hates my kind, and he'll never accept that you're one of us."

"Don't worry." Ichigo told him reassuringly. "I don't care what Ryou thinks or says. I'm not going anywhere. I'm exactly where I want to be."

Tart made a gagging noise as he listened to them. "Blah! Those two make me sick. I miss the good old days when they were arguing all the time. Now they're always so lovie dovie."

"You'll understand when you settle down." Pie told him, going back to his project. "Perhaps you end up with the monkey girl."

"Her name is Pudding!" Tart snapped, blushing slightly. "And don't you dare make fun of me. I know you have a thing for the green one, Leaves, right."

"Lettuce." Pie corrected, the smallest hint of pink flooding his cheeks.

"Yeah, her." Tart muttered.

He hovered over to the MegaScope and peaked through, hoping to get a glimpse of Pudding. He had to admit, he was really excited about seeing her again. He really did like her. And he would die before he let that stupid jerk, Yuebin, take her away from him. Pudding was his! If only they were a few years older, then he and Pudding could…

A mischievous smile crept up Tart's face and he hovered over to Pie. "Hey, Pie, you still have that thing that changes someone's DNA, right? You know, the one Kish used on the old lady to make her one of us."

"Yes." Pie replied. "It's in the spot where I keep all my inventions. You know the place." He glanced at Tart suspiciously. "Why?"

Tart looked away, his eyes twinkling excitedly. "Oh, no reason…"

**THE END**

**(A/N: There you go. THIS story may be over, but I've left it open for a sequel. Though I have no plans for one yet, I want to do a continuation of this story featuring Pudding and Tart. No promises though, because I don't have any ideas as of yet, but I will try and come up with something. Now then, this brings **_**Alien Ichigo**_** to an end. Special thanks to everyone who stuck with me through it all. I really didn't expect this story to be this popular, but you all made it happen. Here's your last chance to review. Hopefully I'll be back with a sequel. Wish me luck****.****)**


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